


Fate/Extra: Seraphim Upon the Midnight Sea

by Xiphosan



Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action, Gen, Knockout Tournament, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-15 03:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 94,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1289545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xiphosan/pseuds/Xiphosan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Moon Cell. Host to 417 Masters vying for a wish in a tourney where only one may be granted.</p><p>Here, a Master with fragmented memories and no wish is thrown into the fray. How to survive against, or work alongside other Masters are not his only problems when even the system itself threatens to go haywire in this Holy Grail War.</p><p>But his biggest problem? Dealing with his 2 Servants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two days of Normality

** Prologue **

* * *

**Act 0: Scene 1**

**3 Days Remaining**

_Chimes raise curtains on normal days,  
Precious they are as Golden Dust._

* * *

It’s a bright, sunny morning. The air is filled with the joyful laughter of students.

There’s more activity than normal in front of the school gate.

A crowd is forming as students are being called over.

I wonder what’s going on.

When I peer into the centre of the crowd, I see my friend, Issei Ryuudou, resplendent in the unique Black uniform of the Student Council, with the badge signifying him as its President shining almost blindingly against his black shirt.

“Good morning!” He greeted me as I walked up to the school gates. “Lovely weather we’re having, don’t you think?” He paused for a moment as he studied my face.

“Hmm? Why do you look so surprised?” He noted, raising an eyebrow. “We announced at last weeks’ assembly that this month the Student Council would strictly enforce school rules. For now, I’ve been tasked with performing inspections to ensure students are in full compliance with school rulings.”

“Now it goes without saying that _everyone_ , is subject to inspections, even old friends like you I’m afraid.”

With that, he stepped in closer as his hands reached out and began patting down my plain, standard brown uniform, muttering as his eyes and hands worked with experience.

“Collar, check! Pant hems, check! And your socks… check!” He stood up straight before putting out a hand towards me.

“Now then, next up is to check the contents of your bag…”

Without a moment of hesitation I complied, taking it off my shoulder and passing it over to his outstretched hand. Within moments he had already dissected its innards while muttering at the same time, as before.

“Notebooks, textbooks, pencil box! Yes, yes, not even a whiff of contraband!” He replaced everything quickly into the bag and handed it back to me, before standing back and placing a hand to his chin, evaluating me one more time.

“Your nails are evenly cut, and your haircut is sensible as well.” He smiled as he finished his evaluation, looking me in the eye as he began again.

“Indeed, quite remarkable. You’re truly a model Tsukumihara Academy student. Not many I’ve caught this morning can earn that accolade! I’d recommend that you consider a future as a member of the student council. You’d be perfect for it! Though, I’d never try to coerce you into joining up; we aren’t like that.”

Letting his hands fall down to his sides, he stepped up beside me, his eyes evidently already locating the next set of unsuspecting students.

“Now then, off to your classroom! I’ll see you later on today, alright?” He patted my back once, before he left for the next student, long before I could reply.

As I made my way through the crowded school courtyard, my eyes slowly wandered over the heads of my fellow students on their way to class, at the school campus that I should know like the back of my hand.

The main building that housed all of the classes was situated on the far left across a sanded courtyard. A three-story building shaped vaguely like a blocky U, there wasn’t anything special or unique about it… But then again, it would always hold a special place in the hearts of its graduates, above all other schools.

On the far right corner of the campus, directly next to the main building was the Archery Range. It was unusually large for most schools, owing to the high performance history of its members: The club was apparently established on the day of this school’s founding, and every year its members never failed to achieve excellent results in external competitions.

Slightly below that was a second entrance to the school campus across a river. It’s not used much by the students coming to and leaving from school. Instead, it’s mostly used by the students on gym practice, as it leads out to a large sports field that can be adapted to suit the needs of the class, as well as a large pool situated off-campus. Apparently the pool was built sometime after the main building, in another area owing to the lack of space on the main campus.

And below that, directly to the right of the main gate, was the Sports Hall itself. Although, perhaps to be more correct it can serve a multitude of roles other than an indoor sports area, as most gym classes took place outdoors. Assemblies and announcements are usually held there, as well as some exams on occasion. And let’s not forget the plays that some of the students host.

All in all, a pretty ordinary school, attended to by your run-of-the-mill students like me.

‘ _A gently bustling morning like always._ ’ I thought to myself as I entered the school building and made my way up to my classroom by instinct, drilled into me by the unknown number of times I’ve made the trip.

‘ _Another peaceful beginning for another peaceful day._ ’

* * *

As I entered my classroom, 2-A, on the second floor of the building, I saw Shinji Matou sat at his desk, surrounded by a bunch of girls as he normally was. Whenever I see scenes like this, I can’t help but ask myself, what was the secret of his popularity…

He wore the same uniform as all the other students in Tsukumihara academy, although it was certainly far less formal than what many others were sporting. Practically half open, it showed a body that was thin, yet not excessively so. Some muscle, though again not enough to disfigure him. Couple the perfect condition his body was in, alongside the dyed blue hair he sported and a face worthy of his playboy status, certainly his physical appearance lent credibility to his popularity with the girls.

But still…

“Hmm?” He said, cutting off the girl’s chatter around him as he heard the door of the classroom slide open.

“Ah, you.” He said as he noticed me, waving a hand beckoning me to come closer, as my feet obeyed. “You’re so quiet and dull that I wouldn’t have noticed you without the door.” As I arrived next to his desk, he continued again, ignoring the fact that the girls from before had made a clear distinction between my space and theirs right next to him.

“Despite the fact that we’ve been friends since…” He raised an eyebrow as he attempted to remember, before a smile cracked across his face. “Yeah, we’ve been friends since our freshman year, right? Well anyway, don’t sweat the fact that you’re as boring as dirt. Not like someone as simple as you could help it.” He chuckled at his attempt at reassurance.

“Well, I mean anyone would seem boring and stupid when they’re always compared to me, right girls?”

He turned his head to the throng of girls behind him, flashing a smile at them as they almost immediately went head-over-heels for him.

Yes, though it’s a bit early for so much abuse, this is Shinji Matou we’re talking about, so it can’t really be helped: The arrogance and hubris he exudes was almost palatable. Though he does have a good physical form I must admit, I truly don’t understand how he can remain so popular with the girls after he opens his mouth.

Truly, his popularity is a complete mystery to me. Or perhaps I should say it is more, unnatural, than it is a mystery…

Still, I shrugged my shoulders and endured it. From any person’s standpoint, he speaks the truth about me when compared to him. Maybe he’s just someone who’s overly honest.

“Yeah, there’s not much I can say to that.” I replied, giving a sheepish smile as I scratched my head, looking down at his desk as I noticed the papers uncharacteristically strewn over it. “What’re you doing now anyway? Class is about to start.”

“Oh, this?” He picked up one of the gridded papers nonchalantly. “I was just doing a little math tutoring. This stuff is beyond easy… Well, for me anyway.” He smiled as he passed the paper back to one of the girls behind him, likely the one that asked for his help.

Eagerly she received it, before starting to pour over the numbers as though it was signed by a personal idol. However, you could almost visibly see the mood on her face crumble as she read the answer he had written.

“Wait a sec… Hey, Matou, isn’t the answer to this question like, completely wrong in every way?” She turned the paper around and pointed to the offending question, the girls next to her looking at it, and evidently agreeing with her somewhat.

Shinji, initially caught off balance, had to re-right himself from his unstable chair, before standing upright and pointing at the girl directly.

“Wh-What the hell are you spouting?!” He began. “I’m the one who solved that! There’s no way it could be wrong!” His victim cowered in fear from his outburst, before she glanced again at the writing on the paper and pointed to a part of the question in response to his outburst.

“But… But, look at this: Since when did two plus two equal five?”

It looked as though Shinji was lost for words for a few brief moments.

“…I’d never make such a stupid mistake! It’s all your fault! You’re the idiots here, not me!”

Which didn’t last very long.

As Shinji began shouting at the poor girl, the remainder of his crowd panicked and ran back to their desks, leaving only me and Shinji alone.

“Tch.” He clicked his tongue and sighed, before sitting back down at his desk properly. “I hate dealing with the peasantry. Especially when they get full of themselves and think they’re my equal. Truth be told, they’re all worms. Pathetic worms that can’t even stand the light of a brilliant sun like me, Y’know?” He paused for a moment, before he raised an eyebrow at me and continued.

“That’s why I like you so much compared to them.” He stretched his back after he uttered his praise, looking at me. “Even though you’re boring, you know your place at least: The ultimate sidekick I could ever ask for.” Shinji flashes me a smile as he finishes his compliment with that slightly sour dash of insult.

Even though I comment on how strange it is for his solid popularity with the girls, I must admit it’s equally, if not even more, strange that I never take offence at the way he talks to me.

And indeed, like how he said before, Shinji Matou and I are friends, along with one other classmate. How this unholy trio happened… Well, I can’t quite remember how. And I’m not sure if I want to remember, lest my opinion of him takes a 180 degree turn. I’m too boring to find another clique anyway.

Coincidentally, the bell signalling the beginning of classes rings, accompanied by stomping feet and the sound of the sliding door that signals the class’ final arrival: Our homeroom teacher, Ms Taiga Fujimura, secretly known throughout the school as ‘The Tiger’.

“I made it!’ She gasped as she closed the door behind her, the ringing bells stopping short as soon as she did. She took a few brief gasps of breath, before stepping forward towards the desk at the class’ front, shouting out a greeting, “Good morning, everyo – ”

Before brilliantly tripping over the small platform at the front of the classroom, painfully falling onto the floor as her head strikes the corner of the lectern at the front of the class with an almost sickening _thud_.

The classroom fell dead silent, with every student’s attention focused on the twitching body of our homeroom teacher at the class’ front.

A few brief moments of silence, before a few students dared to say anything about Ms Fujimura. Eventually, a handful of other students brave enough stood out of their desks and approached her fallen body, making a number of comments and calling out to her.

“She isn’t moving…”

“She hit her head on the desk; is she alright?”

“Should someone go and call the nurse?”

Finally, one student got close enough and shouted into her ear.

“Ms Fujimura! Wake up!”

“Ughhh… Huh?” The response came back positive, as Ms Fujimura shot back upright as if nothing had happened.

“Huh? What’s wrong everyone?” She asked us, completely ignorant of what had just happened. “Class is about to start, so hurry up and return to your seats!”

The students dutifully followed her advice, ignoring what would normally be considered a serious injury.

‘ _Well, this has happened almost everyday after all…_ ’ I thought to myself, slouched over my desk. ‘ _And she always gets back up properly, so there isn’t anything to worry about…_ ’

As I and my fellow classmates left it at that, Ms Fujimura then began taking attendance and starting the class, the day proceeded almost without a care.

“Now then, today we’ll be talking about the biography of a talented physician known as Dr. Pieceman…”

* * *

The bell signalling the end of school rings as the orange light of the afternoon sun filtered into the classroom.

I stretched my back as I thought about the lesson today. While not too boring, it was still a relief that it was over. Though I guess any student would think that.

I looked around at my fellow classmates as they began to break off into small groupings. Standing up to leave, I saw Shinji coming over to my desk.

“Thank god that’s over.” He began, his face clearly mirroring his words. “I was honestly getting sick of listening to the teachers.” He rubbed his temples for a little bit, before continuing.

“Being a student sucks. The worst part of the whole deal has to be attending these stupid classes as well. Though come to think of it…” He looked at me in the face seriously, leaning back as he placed a hand on his hips. “You’re still here though? No plans prepared? Like a date or something?”

I stood in almost dumbfounded silence at his comment, before he smiled and laughed.

“Hah, I’m just messing with you! You’re too boring to get a date anyway!” He flicked his hair off of his face, as if emphasising the difference between us. “You’re as plain as dirt anyway, so that much is obvious. And you don’t mind staying that way either. As I said before, that’s what I like about you.”

He picked up his bag from his impeccably neat desk, before turning back towards me. “Well, you’re going off to your Journalism Club now right?” I nodded in response.

“You see, that’s the good thing about you.” He repeated himself, giving me his usual smile. “You know your place on the ladder, and you stay there, not bothering anybody else.” With that said, he turned towards the door, bidding me farewell.

“Well then, see you tomorrow!” Without turning back to look at me, he briskly walked out the door of the classroom.

I sighed in slight resignation. Certainly, Shinji is on a completely different level to me; just comparing how many people recognise our faces is enough to illustrate his point.

My thoughts were drowned out amongst the chatter of my classmates as I packed up my things however, and before long I felt a tap on my shoulder as a classmate began talking to me.

“Yo, the Chief’s asking for you, seems like something big.” He smiled at me amusedly, his brown hair covering his eyes slightly. He was a neighbour, and a friend of mine; the other person with the fortune, good or bad, of also being a friend of Shinji Matou. He probably overheard our conversation as Shinji left.

“Anything else she may have said about it?” I asked him as I returned his crooked smile.

“No, she just seemed really excited as usual; you better go and take care of it.” He replied. “Honestly, she’s like a raging wildfire in a dry savannah.”

“Yeah, but there’s not much I can do about it I guess.” I shouldered my bag as I nodded to him in affirmation. “Right, thanks for that.” I gave him a quick pat on the back, before leaving the class to search for the Chief.

“Ah, there you are!” I heard a voice shout out almost as soon as I left the classroom; it seems as though she was already searching for me.

“Yo, Club Ace; why’s it you’re always late like this?” She asked immediately as I turned to look at her. “You know the deadline for the next issue’s coming up so you really ought to get a move on!”

The Editor-In-Chief, nicknamed Chief by the members of the Journalism Club, possessed long brown hair that almost reached past her skirt, alongside enough energy to run around the entire campus with it trailing behind her. Unlike many of the students, she was a dual member of the Journalism Club, as well as the Student Council, and hence sported the black uniform unique for its members: The amount of energy needed to keep going for such roles, on top of being a second-year like me, must be staggering indeed.

‘ _Well, considering how she’s a member of both clubs, she’d need the energy to keep going alright_.’ I thought wryly as I looked her over. ‘ _I suppose it is inevitable that such a link between student governance and student journalism must exist somewhere, and the Chief is it._ ’

“Deadline?” I asked her, slightly confused as I moved to the side of the corridor so as not to obstruct the path, the sunlight from the windows warming up my back.

“Whaaat?” She pulled a face as she placed a hand on her hips. “Did you forget? You’re supposed to write an article about the ‘Unsolved Mysteries of Tsukumihara’. The deadline’s already coming up with the exams and all. Well, whatever; your work’s always good so I’ll leave you to take care of it.”

I nodded in response, the pace of her thoughts and words I could just barely grasp.

“In any case, I’ve done some of the initial investigating, the rest is up to you.” She began again. “The first preview edition we’ll be releasing’s entitled ‘Gateway to the Paranormal’. So, listen…” She looked around at the passing students, as though not wanting anyone else to overhear. But as this was the time where all the classes were emptying for clubs, it wasn’t exactly very empty.

“You seem a bit on edge, Chief.” I asked out of concern. “You alright?”

“O-Of course I am!” She cried in indignation. “Well, anyway… There’s supposed to be an entrance to the Spirit World at the rear of the Archery Range. One time, a male student who got bullied a lot was told to pick up trash there… And then vanished completely! Everyone’s completely convinced that something paranormal is going on back there!” As she ranted on about the story, her eyes slowly took on a glazed, fearful look.

“Seriously, isn’t that scar-I mean, ridiculous? And as the club’s Ace, I’m sending you to investigate! Leave no stone unturned! Sniff out the truth, understood?” She ended her statement as she prodded my chest several times, waiting for an answer.

“I think the only thing paranormal here is you though, Chief.” I replied with a smirk.

“Grr…” She pulled a face at my joke, clearly miffed. “You’re supposed to answer ‘Yes Ma’am’! Now, hop to it! I gotta go and find some of the other slacker reporters probably ditching club! Geez, without me I don’t know what you guys will spend your days doing!” With that said, she’s already moving on through the crowd of the school, likely looking for the next club member to bug.

“Geez, the Chief’s as energetic as usual, huh.” Another girl sighed behind me. “Somehow you’re the only one who can keep up with her.”

“Well, not much I can do about that, huh?” I replied, turning to look at her.

“Well, I better go and chase after her.” She said, sighing again. “I wish I could keep up with her as well as you can. Being the Vice-Chief is really tiring.”

“Don’t worry about it; you’re doing just fine as it is.” I said reassuringly. She gave me a quick smile before rushing after the quickly disappearing Chief.

“Well then, I better get started.” I took a quick look at my watch, planning my route of investigation. “Start from the top, work your way to bottom as they say. I’ll start from the third floor of the School building, the Student Council office should be there. Can’t start from the roof since it’s off-limits.”

‘ _But, I wonder why though…_ ’I thought idle thought passed by as I made my way towards the stairs.

On the way up the stairs, I happened to notice a bulletin board with a large piece of paper stuck to it, words scrawled across it in energetic handwriting that could only belong to the Chief. It reads:

**_“Tsukumihara Times Preview Edition 1.”_ **

**_“A special feature will begin the day after tomorrow…”_ **

**_“Cracking the Unsolved Mysteries of Tsukumihara Academy.”_ **

**_“Don’t miss it!”_ **

I sighed inwardly at this; clearly she’s making a mountain out of a molehill with these rumours, asking a single reporter to go and shoulder such a prominent set of articles.

* * *

“Hey, d’you notice how that girl in the Nurse’s office is always wearing long-sleeves even though it’s the middle of summer?” I heard a third-year’s voice speak as I approached the third floor.

All of the Third Year classes are situated on this floor on the left wing, alongside the Multimedia room, the Student Council Office, and a number of other rooms reserved for clubs on the right wing. Most of the building’s layout is similar; classrooms on the left wing, and special reserved rooms on the right wing.

‘ _If Issei’s in the Student Council Office, I may be able to ask him for a few details concerning the bullying part of the story._ ’ I thought as I recounted the information.

“Yeah, Sakura Matou, isn’t it?” Another voice responded to the first voice that spoke when I arrived, piquing my interest.

‘ _Hm? Shinji’s got a younger sister?_ ’ I thought, raising an eyebrow as I overheard the conversation, before standing still to listen in, telling myself ‘ _Though eavesdropping is bad; as a journalist I can’t let even a little bit of info escape my notice._ ’

“Oh, Sakuraaa!” A different voice wailed. “Why must you be Shinji’s little sister? If you weren’t under his thumb so, I would gladly ask you to marry me! Every day I’d wake up and see your beautiful face! Every day I’d be able to eat your wonderful cooking! Ooh, why cruel fate, WHY!?”

“Stop acting so dramatic.” The first voice replied, exasperated. “You ain’t the only one with those sentiments.”

“Though honestly, if you aren’t willing to put up with Shinji as your brother-in-law you don’t deserve somebody as cute as her.” The second voice cut in.

“Aren’t you interested in getting her as your girlfriend?” The first asked.

“Unlike YOU lot I do have a plan to win her heart!” The second spoke confidently. “I don’t spend my time wailing about how much of a complete prick Shinji is! I spend my time devising a plan to take her away from his evil clutches!”

“Yeah, now YOU’RE the one being dramatic…” The third voice sulked. “Though I bet Shinji abuses her at home, so she has to wear that coat all day to cover up the scars on her arms!”

“That’s why I, as her shining knight, vow here and now to take her away from the evil clutches of that accursed villain!” The second proclaimed without a shred of doubt as he was probably striking some cliché victory pose.

‘ _Huh, now that I think about it…_ ’ I thought silently as they continued, ‘ _this story’s nothing new really. Oh well, I better get back to work…_ ’ Turning, I took a left down the corridor towards the Student Council office, leaving the three to keep talking about their crush, Sakura Matou.

‘ _Although, I didn’t know Shinji’s sister was the origin of that story. And for that matter, I didn’t know he even HAD a sister… But he can’t be THAT bad that he bullies her even at home, right? His personality may be down the drain, but I’ve never known Shinji to harm anyone directly like that…_ ’ I dispelled my idle thoughts on that conversation as I reached the Student Council Office.

“Excuse me.” I called out as I slid open the door.

“Oh…” A girl in the characteristic black of the Student Council asked as she saw me. “Are you here to see Issei?” She must recognise me as part of the Journalism Club wanting to interview the president.

“Yeah, is he here right now to talk for a little bit?” I replied in confirmation.

“I’m afraid that he’s already left.” She said with a crooked smile. “Rain or shine, you can expect the president to be out in the field taking care of any problems coming up.”

“Yeah; someone should pull the stick out of his butt so he can walk off and do something else!” Another member of the Student Council piqued up idly as she was tidying up some papers. “Still though, for a stickler to protocol and detail, he’s surprisingly popular. What’d you want to talk to him about anyway?”

“Oh, I’m investigating that rumour about a Gateway to the Spirit World behind the Archery Range.” I replied, pulling out a pen so I could write some notes on my hand for later reference.

“A gateway behind the Archery Range?” The first Student Council member asked sceptically. “That old story about a bullied boy disappearing into thin air?”

“Yeah, that one…” I confirmed. “You have any idea about where I could find some leads?”

“Ms Fujimura’s the advisor for the Archery Club.” The second member answered nonchalantly, still busy with her papers. “She’d probably have some details about anything related to the range.”

“I see then, thanks for letting me know, and sorry for disturbing you.” I replied as I wrote down Ms Fujimura’s name, then Advisor, before closing the door and turning around.

“Ms Fujimura’s the advisor for the Archery Club?” I whispered as I played the words over in my head. “If that’s the case, she’s probably there right now cleaning up; the Archery Club’s put on temporary hold right now for the exams, so nobody should be there except the advisor…Okay, at least I got another lead.”

Gearing myself up, I headed back for the stairs down to the first floor.

* * *

“Hey, Sakura!” I heard an unmistakeable voice shout as I arrived.

Turning in the direction it came from, Shinji Matou stood out like a sore thumb in front of the Nurse’s office down the corridor from my position. Before him, there was a girl I couldn’t remember seeing beforehand.

She wore a long labcoat that covered up the brown girl’s uniform of Tsukumihara Academy beneath it. The coat’s hems reached up to her thighs alongside her skirt, with its sleeves covering the entirety of her arms. Stunningly long purple hair reached all the way down to her ankles, making her form even more recognisable than Shinji’s.

‘ _Sakura? Then, Sakura Matou? Shinji’s younger sister that those third years were talking about?_ ’ I couldn’t help but think to myself, just as I remembered Shinji’s words. ‘ _Yet, why is it I can’t remember seeing her until today?_ ’

The girl known as Sakura turned around to face Shinji, though her face looked as though she wanted to turn right back around again.

“Oh… It’s you, brother.” A small voice leaked out from her lips, barely audible at the distance I was away from them. But they were at least audible enough for me to confirm my suspicions.

“I heard that you’ve been skipping out on the Archery Club’s morning practices lately!” Shinji’s tirade began, clearly infuriated at something. “Why haven’t you been showing up? And where do you get off taking a break without my say so?!” His tirade stopped there; surprisingly short considering its Shinji. But very quickly his voice rose again in anger

“Ah, I get it now… You've been going to ‘their’ house again, haven't you?” His voice contained venom that I could not remember ever coming from Shinji, his hands clenching into fists.

‘ _Their house?_ ’ I couldn’t help but think as I continued to eavesdrop, still remembering the words I had spoken to myself previously in reassurance that eavesdropping was alright… even if it was my friend.

“… Yes… Yes, I have been going there, but I just wanted to help and…” She began, trying to defend her position.

“Let me guess…” Shinji cut her off, shaking his head as he rubbed his temples. “You felt obliged to help, right? Goddamnit, why must you always be so naive? Tch, anyway, if someone gets hurt, just leave them to suffer: Just do what I tell you to, and things will be A-okay.” He waved his hand with confidence, as though he could see and control the future directly.

“I mean, it seems like people get some kind of perverse thrill from getting in my way like this. To force one of my… err… my dear little sister to miss valuable practice time…”

“No! No, that’s not how it was at all!” She cried out, trying to overturn her brother’s conclusion as she brought a hand to her chest, clearly disturbed. “I wasn’t forced to help or do anything out of obligation… I just wanted to help! But… Brother, why… are you so against… Why is it so wrong to help those who need it?”

“Ha!” He laughed in scorn. “Isn’t it only fools and weaklings that manage to hurt themselves somehow? That kind of trash doesn’t deserve any help in the first place!” He flicked a lock of hair to the side, as though to emphasise his superiority.

“And why help anybody out in the first place?” His tirade continued shortly afterwards unabated. “Will that same person ever pay you back or help you in return? Of course they won't; they’ll just take your help and leave you on the roadside when it’s your turn to come begging for it! And if you think otherwise, you're an idiot! I won't be used by anyone. It's better to treat others as cattle and just use them as necessary. And isn't it time for you to come around to seeing things my way?!”

“But…” Sakura began stuttering during a pause in Shinji’s tirade, her figure seemingly growing smaller by the minute under the overwhelming presence of her brother. “But, for me… that option… that is…”

“Shut it, Sakura.” Shinji began again, his mood clearly close to breaking point as he swung his hand in the air, before jabbing a finger at her with finality. “I don’t care what you have to say, and I am only going to say this once: Stop going to that house Sakura, got it!?”

“Is my pathetic Grandson stirring up trouble again?” An elderly voice shocked me out of my stupor just as Shinji’s final words echoed in the air. Almost as though by command, my body snapped around at attention to look at the owner of the voice.

Its origin was an ancient man, his wrinkled skin and hunched back evidence of the many years he had weighing upon him, so much so that he barely stood up to my chest. Wielding a weak-looking, yet surprisingly sturdy cane, and wearing a dark green kimono underneath a long, loose black coat. Honestly, I was surprised that he was capable of coming to this School from wherever he lived: He looked so frail that a single gust of wind would be able to knock him off his feet.

Yet even after saying that, his voice earlier held a commanding tone that instinctively caused me to come to attention, and a sickly aura around him that sent shivers up my spine like I could never remember. His physical age clearly had no impact on his actual bearing…Rather, instead of bogging him down, it instead served to strengthen him instead, like the rings of an ancient tree.

“Ah…” Apparently the same aura this man exuded did not go unnoticed, as Sakura’s dejection was immediately replaced with something else, her body almost visibly stiffening. “G… Grandfather… Welcome… ” She took a standing bow to the diminutive man beside me.

“Wha-!” Shinji’s shock was almost entertaining to watch, had it not been for the complete fear that blanketed his face at the sight of the old man. “G-Grandfather! You didn’t need to come all the way out here if you needed us... !” Shinji’s discomfort was obvious from the moment his mouth opened as his previously arrogant attitude took a complete U-turn.

“Hmph; I need not concern myself with the two of you.” He answered Shinji’s worry with disinterest. “I… just felt that I needed to take a walk, and ended up here. I expect the two of you to return home immediately after you have finished what you needed to do at school.” Although he had the full attention of the two siblings, he was clearly more interested in the school building itself, for whatever reason. His eyes were carefully scanning every nook and cranny of the concrete, as though searching for something...

“Y… Yes, Grandfather.” Sakura said simply, still keeping her head bowed and her face hidden, though from my position, it looked as though her body was… trembling slightly.

“O… Of course, Grandfather!” Shinji’s voice perked up again, seeing as he was in no danger, it seemed as his body became slightly livelier. “I was just telling Sakura the same thing!”

“I’ll be on my way then.” The old man they had referred to as ‘Grandfather’ walked past the two of them as though they were nothing but statues, his attention clearly fixed on something else entirely.

“Hah… Haha…” For some reason, Shinji Matou began laughing as the aura of the old man slowly disappeared from the area. “W… Well, remember what I said, Sakura; and go home immediately afterwards.” With that said, Shinji immediately bolted for the exit, not caring anymore about his little sister who was still standing, frozen bent in a bow as though the old man was still before her.

“Seems like Shinji ran off then, eh?” A voice came up from behind me, shocking me again out of my mystified state.

“D… Did you see that?” I asked him as I turned around, recognising my mutual friend of Shinji walking down the staircase with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“Yeah; I’m honestly as dumbfounded as you are.” He answered, his partially hidden eyes underneath his hair illustrating his confusion clearly. “Maybe we’ll have to ask the Chief whether she’d be willing to investigate the Matou household for stories; they’d probably have more mysteries than a library has books.” He tried to crack a joke to loosen up the awkward atmosphere left behind by the old man’s appearance.

“Eh, I don’t know if that’d work…” I replied, scratching my head as I responded to his joke, albeit half-heartedly.

“In any case…” He shook his head as he came down to stand beside me. “Don’t you have that story you’re supposed to take care of for the Chief?”

“Oh… Oh yeah!” I couldn’t help but smack my fist into my palm as I realised I had completely forgotten about it.

“You got anything new then?” He asked as he tapped my back.

“Yeah, I went and talked with some of the Student Council members.” I began recounting what I heard on the third floor when I went to look for Issei.

“I see; you better get going then.” He said, nodding in thought. “Ms Fujimura’s probably at the range by herself, cleaning up after the club members since it’s so close to the exam period.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly…” I replied as my gaze slowly shifted to Sakura, who was still standing rigid and bowed over for some reason.

“I’ll take care of it.” He sighed as he followed my gaze. “She probably just needs a little chop to the head after having Shinji go at her like that. Go and take care of the Chief’s story, she’ll probably be livid if you don’t finish it in time.”

“Got it, thanks.” It was all I could say after a pause as I flashed him a smile, before heading off out the school doors.

It was clear that he could recognise my worried state; after hearing about how high Sakura Matou was on the list as everyone’s desired girlfriend, leaving her in such a stupefied state would be dangerous.

But I knew I could trust my friend in getting her back in shape, without anything undue happening.

* * *

On the way to the Archery Range, I had to pass by the Sports Hall, next to the second entrance. For some reason, my feet slowed as I passed by the entrance, my eyes turning over to its large, wooden doors.

Almost as if triggering a negative reaction to my stare, the doors of the hall burst open, as a man slowly stepped out of the shadows.

His clothes were completely black; from his fur-lined coat to his gloves all the way down to his pants and boots, in eerie sync with his jet-black, short hair and equally black eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” His voice; deep, dark, and menacing, only served to cement his threatening stance.

His aura was intimidating, to say the least… Well, until he turned his gaze to look at me. And in that instant, his intimidating aura was replaced by one of overwhelming danger that sent waves upon waves of terror all over my body. That cold, blank stare of his conveyed no discernable emotion, yet in its place was an unbridled killing intent, as though he was deciding which was more expedient: Breaking my neck, or skinning me alive!

“Odd. Your name doesn’t appear to be on the list, but I had better make sure…” His cold voice came again to envelope me, after his stare had nailed my feet firmly to the ground.

He began to mutter under his breath as he reached out with his right hand towards me. Although he didn’t move from his position at the doors of the Sports Hall, his very aura made it feel as though his hand was slowly, slowly, coming ever so closer towards me. As waves of nausea and vertigo threatened to overwhelm me, I felt like a rabbit watching the wolf drawing nearer and nearer for the kill…

“You’re not even trying to fight.” He spoke again, the note of disgust within it obvious as he lowered his hand. “My instinct’s aren’t as sharp as they used to be… I need to rest.”

The paralysis that held me rooted suddenly fades away as I tried to hold back a sigh of relief, although the man still continued to look at me with those dead eyes of his.

“My name is Mr Kuzuki.” He said simply, as though unaware of the very terror his presence causes to others as he introduced himself, turning his body towards the entrance to the main school building.

“I will be teaching at Tsukumihara Academy starting from tomorrow onwards.” He continued speaking, his ominous gaze still locked on me. “The campus is about to close soon: If you have nothing else to do here, I advise that you go home immediately. There have been rumours of a slasher stalking the school grounds at night, so you should return for your own safety.”

With his final words spoken, he detached his murderous glare from me and left the area, sparing me no second thought.

‘ _Great…_ ’ I thought to myself as I sighed inwardly in relief, my knees almost giving way as my hands were still slick with sweat from that man’s overwhelming presence. ‘ _Now we have a teacher with obvious murderous intent teaching at our school…_ ’

‘ _Darn it, look at the time…_ ’ I glanced at my watch as I remembered my original purpose here. ‘ _I really got to find a way to stop myself from being side tracked like this…The Chief’s not gonna be happy tomorrow if I can’t find enough to appease her_.’

With that… eventful, meeting done and over with, I quickly hurried over to the Archery Range, hoping that whatever is behind there won’t take up too much more of my time.

* * *

The light of the setting sun basked the Archery Range in a golden glow.

It’s interior was made of two covered sections, separated by a long, grassy field in-between. From the entrance I came in from, I could just barely see the target mounds underneath the opposite covered section. On the section where I stood, rows upon rows of unstrung bows lined the walls, with small boxes packed full of arrows dotting the wooden floor.

The floor gave a pleasant, welcoming _creak_ as I took a few steps into the building, my eyes scanning the area for where to begin my investigation. And just as I did so, a familiar figure appeared, stepping into the shaded area holding a large number of arrows in her hands.

“Ah.” Ms Fujimura said as she noticed me standing there. “You caught me in the middle of cleaning: Those kids nowadays don’t even unstring their bows! The worst is when they leave their arrows stuck in the target mound. I usually make the kids do it, but there's no club activities leading up to exams, so I end up having to do it.” She quickly moved to dump the arrows back into the boxes before turning back to face me again, as though emphasising her point.

“There’s not particularly much you can do about it, I guess, Ms Fujimura.” I said matter-of-factly, not really sure how to console a teacher for having to do her job.

“In any case, what are you doing over here then?” She asked smiling at me. “Exams are coming up in just four days you know, so you really shouldn’t be stalling over here!”

“Well, I’m here on club activities actually…” I replied, scratching my head sheepishly. “The Editor in Chief’s asked me to investigate a story about the Archery Range.”

“And here I just said you shouldn’t be stalling here.” She said sceptically. “In any case, since I’m here, what’s the story about then?”

“Err…” I pulled out a pen again in preparation to write down some notes of anything she could tell me. “There’s been a rumour about an Entrance to the Spirit World behind the Archery Range going about; have you seen anything yourself, Ms Fujimura?”

“Huh? An entrance to the spirit world?” She looked at me incredulously. “That's just a rumour, it's not real! Come on now, stop focusing on fantasy stuff like that and focus on your exams! Four days remember, Four! So go home and study already, shoo, shoo!”

Following her direction I quickly left the way I came in, with Ms Fujimura chasing me out.

‘ _Well, it seems I had my answer to the disappearing boy: He probably got shooed away by the Tiger-I mean, Ms Fujimura._ ’ I thought to myself as I looked up at the sky afterwards, recounting what I’ve heard this afternoon. ‘ _Though she doesn’t like the nickname us students have given her, she’s certainly earned it on more than one occasion…_ ’

‘ _And it’s not entirely surprising that she’s behind one of Tsukumihara Academy’s rumours…_ ’ I laughed inwardly to myself. ‘ _Maybe I should write an article after the exams are over about why does she keep falling over at the start of class…In any case, I’d better talk to the Chief tomorrow about what I heard; I’d better get back home now._ ’

With that final thought, I left through the main gate, ending just another day at school.

**...**

* * *

**Act 0: Scene 2**

**2 Days Remaining  
**

_Humans know such humble days are precious  
Yet, where are the buyers for such excess?_

* * *

“Morning.” I called out to my friend as I reached the school gate.

My seat neighbour, and mutual friend of Shinji turned around, smiling as he saw me.

“Morning, you get anything from the Archery Range yesterday?” He asked as I reached his side.

“Yeah, the Ti-ugh, Ms Fujimura was there yesterday as I went to investigate.”

“Really now?” He raised an eyebrow as he heard me, probably coming to the same conclusions I had yesterday. “Well, the Chief’ll probably be relieved to hear that.”

“Yeah.” I smiled in response. “I’m surprised that the Chief’s actually so scared of such ghost stories, even though she’s so gung-ho about getting this series of articles out.”

“You seem pretty gung-ho about it yourself actually.” He shrugged his shoulders as he began moving towards the main building. “We’d better hurry; classes are about to start. Don’t want to end up like Ms Fujimura, right?” I quickly followed him as he threw that last comment out.

As we entered the building, a very recognisable sight caught my eye.

Even though yesterday was the first time I’ve seen her, it was already impossible for me to mistake Sakura Matou’s figure for anyone else.

She was standing by the shoe-lockers, apparently trying to sift through a number of envelopes while trying to find her indoor shoes.

“Looks like she’s got another bunch of love letters.” My friend commented, smiling wryly as he opened his own locker; completely empty in comparison.

I kept quiet as I looked into my own empty box, switching out my shoes before turning to him again. “Erm…”

“Yesterday, right?” He asked as he closed his locker, already reading my mind.

“Yeah…” I answered his suspicions sheepishly.

“She’s fine.” He turned and smiled at me reassuringly. “As I said, she just needed a little chop to the head to bring her back.”

“Have you… talked to her before?” I asked him as I too closed my own locker.

“Me? Ha.” He laughed at the thought. “I’m just as much in the dark about her as you are. We’re just boring idiots under Shinji’s shadow anyway. Yesterday’s the first time I talked to her, as well as seen her.”

He took a quick glance at the girl in question, before turning back to me and whispering something, apparently sensing the hidden meaning of my words. “It’s best if we don’t delve into family matters too deeply; you may get caught in something you won’t be able to get out of.”

“But still though…” I couldn’t help but turn back to her figure still standing by her locker, focusing on the long sleeved coat she wore as the words of those third-years from yesterday came back to me.

“Haah.” My friend sighed as he saw my worry, before patting me on the shoulder as I turned back to look at him. “Think about it rationally; you only saw her yesterday right?” I only nodded in silence as he began speaking, trying to reason out with me. “You haven’t even talked to her once before, right?” Again, I nodded in reply.

“You only know that Shinji likes to keep her under his thumb constantly. Perhaps he’s being a bit pushy about it, but some brothers are like that. We also know that their grandfather seems like a very strict man: Again, no concrete facts about how their home life is like, and nothing to say for certain, right?” I couldn’t deny his logic as I nodded again in reply.

“Then right now there’s not much you can do about it.”

“But still-!” I turned around to face him again as Shinji’s words from yesterday popped up in my mind. I didn’t expect my friend to share his opinion about not helping those in need.

That is, until he gave a light chop to my head, silencing any words I had in my mouth.

“Shut it: I’m not done yet.” He spoke grumpily as I stared at him. “Right now, there’s not much you can do about it. But later on is probably a different matter entirely, isn’t it?” He gave me a knowing grin as I understood the meaning of his final words. “Get to know her a little better for starters; I’ll be cheering you on, alright?”

“Heh, sure thing.” I rubbed my forehead where he hit me as I returned his grin, before a surprised yelp echoed through the corridor.

“Hm?” My friend was already scanning the area for the source of the voice. Sakura had apparently left already as I was being lectured, but that voice was unmistakeably hers.

Immediately both of us were already moving through the corridors looking for her; apparently all of the other students had already disappeared for class, the corridor deserted aside from the two of us. And although we too should be following suit, it seemed my friend shared the same worries as me about Sakura, and the events from yesterday.

But we didn’t have to wait for too long.

From the entrance and turning to the right, towards the Faculty and Nurse’s Office, we quickly saw Sakura’s collapsed body on the floor.

“Sakura!” I instinctively shouted out as I ran over to her fallen figure, crouching beside her. “What’s wrong?”

“Ah…?” She blinked several times before looking at me, clearly in a daze. “Is…Is something the matter?”

“You… You just collapsed in the middle of the street.” I replied, incredulous that she didn’t even realise it herself as my friend reached us.

“Is there anything we can do for you?” He asked calmly as he stooped down. “Classes are about to start soon; do you need to take a rest?”

“Oh… yeah…” She replied softly as she tried to get up to her feet, before I gave her a hand to help her up. “Thanks… Yes, sorry about that, I… haven’t been sleeping… very well the past few days.”

“Should I take you down to the Nurse’s office?” I asked her worriedly as I held onto her small hand.

“Yes… please.” She replied slowly, her eyes still unfocused.

“I’ll go and tell the teacher’s you’ll be late.” My friend said, nodding his head. “What class are you in, Sakura? I’ll go and tell them you’ll probably be taking the first few lessons off.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry…” She began as she turned her head to us, smiling. “I’m stationed at the Nurse’s office, not at a classroom.”

“Oh… alright…” My friend had a slightly puzzled look on his face, before it was replaced by a twinge of pain and then reverting back to normal. “Well, I’ll tell Ms Fujimura that you’ll be a bit late then; don’t take too long.” He gave us a quick wave before heading back to the stairs for our homeroom.

‘ _What was that?_ ’ I thought as I replayed Sakura’s words over in my head, and the subsequent variation in my friend’s expression. ‘ _Ugh, I think I feel a headache coming on… already so early in the morning?_ ’ I shook my head to try and get rid of the thoughts and the headache, before turning back to look at Sakura, still standing there.

“Sh… Should we get going then?” I asked, a little bit nervous now with the two of us alone in the corridor.

“Yes… Sorry about this…” She murmured as she looked straight ahead, apparently still in a daze. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time…”

“Oh please, it’s no problem.” I replied quickly. “My homeroom teacher’s pretty late herself, so I should be able to get back before she does for roll call.” Keeping a hold onto her hand so as to prevent her collapsing again, I began walking towards the Nurse’s office.

Even with Sakura’s slow pace, very quickly the two of us reached the door to the Nurse’s office.

“Is… Is there anything else I could do for you, Sakura?” I asked her as I opened the door, letting her go through.

“Th… Thank you for your concern.” She turned a tired, but still gentle smile at me at the doorway after she had made her way in. “But I should be fine after a bit of rest.”

“Al… Alright then…” I stuttered, my wits already leaving me even after my friend’s encouragement. “I’ll… I’ll see you later then Sakura…”

“Yes... See you later.” She replied, before turning towards the beds in the office, presumably to take a little lie-down.

Slowly I closed the doors, before going back down the corridor and up the stairs towards my classroom.

“Damnit! I didn’t even tell her my name!” I almost shouted in fury on the way, after the fact dawned on me.

* * *

It seemed that, even with the distraction down on the first floor this morning, Ms Fujimura still wasn’t here, the bell having yet to ring… I had to count my lucky stars for that. But instead, something else was out of place.

The girls that normally flocked around Shinji Matou’s desk aren’t there this morning. The person in question himself seemed to be in a pretty bad mood too. I gave a questioning glance at my neighbouring friend, who shrugged in response. Apparently he wasn’t willing to go into the lion’s den, so I’ll ask him…

Though I had better keep it a secret that I was trying, and failing, to hit on his younger sister.

“Yo, Shinji, did something happen?”

“What?” He snapped at me as I came close to his desk. “Like I’d tell you if anything happened to me! Which, it didn’t. Nothing happened at all.”

I gave a wry smile at his failed attempt at denial, apparently triggering the next set of floodgates to open.

“Hey, you know that Ice Queen Rin Tousaka?” He started. “She thinks she's so much better than everyone else. At first, I thought that she would be the only one who understood how lonely it is at the top. I tried talking to her yesterday, but I got nowhere. Maybe I just intimidate her or something. I might've lost a few points for getting violent, but girls who talk back to me get slapped!”

I sighed inwardly as I heard him recount his side of the story. Though I don’t know of the girl in question, this Rin Tousaka had probably shot Shinji straight out of the sky as soon as he tried hitting on her.

“I’d never hook up with such a violent, stuck-up bitch like that, no matter how hot she is! She’d be perfect if she’d just keep her mouth shut. And why’d she take a shot at me anyway? I thought she was gonna spinning-star kick me next!”

As he continued to whine, I could only imagine just how sleazy Shinji was with her. Though normally his super-aggressive approach works, but as they say, you can’t fool all the people, all the time.

Still, with that said, life’s just that little bit more interesting when it’s got these little shake-ups now and then, like this morning with Sakura, and now this with Shinji.

At that moment, the bell began to ring. And right on cue, Ms Fujimura dashed through the doors at the last second as I took my seat between my two friends.

“Phew, I made it!” She declared triumphantly. “Good morning everyone!” She waved energetically to the class as she took a quick glance around.

“Alright, no one’s absent, and since there are no announcements to make, let’s just start homeroom.”

Taking a few steps forward while reaching towards the blackboard, she tripped again, falling over as she always does.

This time however, as she fell, her fingernails scratched along the blackboard in an attempt to grab onto something, emitting a horrifying _screech_ that sent me cringing even more than how she normally hits her head.

And thus, another normal morning for another normal day began anew.

* * *

“…and though the Great War had finally come to an end, regional conflicts still persisted.”

Standing behind the lectern today, is the school’s newest teacher, Mr Kuzuki.

Who I had the, rather terrifying experience, of meeting yesterday.

“Despite the suffering of the previous generation, battles once again commenced thirty years afterwards.”

Although he’s supposed to be teaching math, his lessons have apparently gone off on a tangent, instead talking about European History from the early 20th century onwards.

“Now instead of armies, attacks in ever greater numbers are being carried out by terrorists. And in an attempt to supress these terrorists groups…”

Just before he began detailing the strategies used, the chiming bell signals the end of classes. And with it, the tension in the room nosedives immediately, as though its strings had been cut.

“All right, let us end here today.” He looked at the class as a whole as we rapidly began to pack up, before he began speaking again.

“…Oh yes, before I forget. There is an announcement from the Student Counsellor. Recently, a rise in the number of slashing incidents has made the surrounding area dangerous. With that in mind, keep any detours to a minimum and head home as quickly as possible.”

Repeating the same words from yesterday, he then left us students to our own devices. But although he speaks good advice, I still have to finish those assignments for the Journalism Club…

Though why I have such enthusiasm for it, on par with the Chief’s, is a mystery just as my friend had mentioned this morning…

Shinji bolted at the first chance possible, and my friend’s probably already off doing some inane task the Chief’s asked of him. In that case, I better go report to the Chief about what I saw yesterday as well.

As I exited the classroom, I began hearing the rumourmongers of the school selling their wares to the people with the most open ears: The new teacher, Mr Kuzuki; the differences between comic books and manga; the upcoming exams in 3 days; rumours of the slasher who’s apparently been targeting students at the Academy; a girl named Rin Tousaka; Ms Fujimura living with a student …

 _‘Wait, what?_ My body stopped as my mind kicked into gear. ‘ _Rin Tousaka as in, the girl who shot Shinji down in mere seconds?_ ’

I turned my eyes discreetly over to the source of the last rumour; a group of three girls were huddled over near the staircase as my ears began filtering out the remaining chit-chat, focusing on their own discussion.

“She’s in Class B, remember?” One of them was commenting. “I’m surprised you’ve never heard of her: Pretty; athletic; smart; classy… Or a stuck-up Ms Perfect who all the guys adore and all the girls despise. Ring a bell anywhere?”

“It wouldn’t be unrealistic to call Rin Tousaka the most popular girl in the whole school.” A second voice chimed in.

“…Are you trying to pull my leg?” A third questioned the both of them, clearly sceptical.

“Honestly, you’re as dense as a brick; you wouldn’t feel it if I did try to pull your leg.” The second teased.

“Whaa?” The third responded in mock horror. “I… I’m not dense… not that bad anyway… But still… She wasn’t wearing our school uniform. She was wearing red. How’d you explain that?”

“Really?” The first asked, doubtful. “I didn’t notice.”

“Eh?” The third squeaked. “Maybe I’m remembering wrong…”

“Knowing you, you would.” The second replied, teasing her again. “C’mon, let’s head over for club.”

“Ah… Yeah…” The third replied in confirmation, still clearly perturbed at the discussion as the three left the scene.

“Again, like Sakura; another mystery girl shows up out of the blue eh…” I muttered under my breath as I raised an eyebrow incredulously.

“Hey!” A familiar, overcharged voice barged into my thoughts as I turned around, seeing none other than the Chief staring at me intently, her long brown hair splayed behind her as usual.

“Yo, Club Ace; did you find anything yesterday?” Without even pausing long enough for me to respond to her greeting, she’s already jumped to the topic about the article. But since I had nothing else I could respond with at this point, I just went with it and told her what I found yesterday at the Archery Range.

“Interesting…” She nodded in thought. “So it was Tiger!” Of course there’s no entrance to the Spirit World!” She laughed it off, even though she seemed very skittish yesterday after talking to me about it.

“Right then, thanks to you, the article will be great! Are you ready for your next assignment?”

She’s already off on the next topic?!

“The next unsolved mystery is a pretty recent one: Yesterday, there was a girl dressed in red on the rooftop.”

‘ _Huh, that sounds a little bit familiar to what those three girls were talking about…_ ’ I thought. ‘ _Could she be the one behind it?_ ’

“Rumours about ‘Little Red Rooftop’ are spreading quickly.” The Chief continued. “Go find out what this is all about: A journalist lets the news guide their feet, so hurry on up to the rooftop! I’ve gotta find your friend; he’s late with taking care of that other article for me!” With that said, she’s already racing off through the crowd, leaving me behind sighing as the Vice-Chief came up right behind her.

“Still as energetic as always.” I shook my head as I commented to her in passing. She flashed me a wry smile before she too disappeared after the Chief.

‘ _Come to think of it though,_ ’ I thought to myself as I took a look at the staircase, ‘ _since I have a little bit of time before I need to go and investigate, maybe I should give Sakura a quick check-up…_ ’

With that in mind, I quickly head down the stairs to the first floor, instead of going up as per my original target.

While on the way down the stairs, I couldn’t help but notice the bulletin board from yesterday. Apparently the Chief’s already changed what was pinned up there. Today, it reads:

**_“Tsukumihara Times Preview Edition 2.”_ **

**_“A special feature will begin tomorrow…”_ **

**_“Cracking the Unsolved Mysteries of Tsukumihara Academy.”_ **

**_“Check it out!”_ **

“…She really does love putting on the pressure doesn’t she?” I sighed as I finished reading it out to myself. “Although, the Chief looks like she’s starting to push herself a bit; the handwriting seems even sloppier than yesterday…”

“Yeah, the Chief really does seem to be pushing herself a bit…” A familiar voice came from behind me. I turned around to see my friend, staring intently at the bulletin board.

“Seems like you’re under a lot of pressure to perform eh?” He joked as he saw my face, repeating my words previously.

“Eh?” I looked at him quizzically. “Wasn’t the Chief looking for you?”

“Yeah, she caught me.” He sighed. “Handed her the article I was supposed to write, before being slapped with another assignment right off the bat.” I thought I saw him physically age for a moment as he recalled the task set for him, before he turned to look at me. “You assigned that ‘Little Red Rooftop’ story now, right?”

“Yeah, I am…” I replied.

“But isn’t the rooftop, _that_ way?” He asked, deadpan as he pointed upwards. “Instead of _that_ way?” He continued, pointing downwards to the first floor, which I was clearly headed for.

“Uhhh…” I fidgeted under such a blatant questioning of my motives.

“Heh, I’m messing with you.” He grinned as he patted my shoulder. “There’s only one reason why’d you be going downstairs instead of up, and that’s to check on Sakura, isn’t it?”

“You can read me like an open book, can’t you?” I sighed in defeat. Well, it’s not like I was trying to hide the fact that I was going to check up on Sakura Matou.

“Well, more like it’s just an obvious fact, considering you.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll come with you to check on her as well; I got a bit of time before I head off for the next assignment.”

* * *

I pushed aside the door to the Nurse’s office, the glow of the afternoon sun filtering through even to here.

“Excuse me.” I called out automatically as I made my way in, my friend following me close behind.

“Oh, welcome.” A now familiarly small, gentle voice called out in response.

Sakura Matou was seated at a table in the centre of the room, an open book in front of her. On the far side of where we entered were a number of beds, presumably for any students who were feeling ill.

“What can I do for you?” She asked as she stood up, her purple hair framing her figure alongside the labcoat she wore, and the uniform underneath it.

“H… How are you feeling, Sakura?” I asked, tentatively; it seemed as though she didn’t remember what had occurred this morning.

“Oh, it’s you two.” She commented after a short pause. “Sorry I didn’t recognise you for a moment; I was suffering from a lack of sleep this morning so I couldn’t really focus on my surroundings.” She bowed, both in thanks and apology. “Thank you for taking care of me, and sorry for causing so many problems so early in the day.”

“Oh, please, it wasn’t a bother!” I instinctively responded, shaking my head. “But more importantly, how are you now?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She gave me a warm, gentle smile. “I just needed a little bit of rest, so now I’m feeling much better.”

“I see, that’s good to hear…” I responded, nodding as I returned her smile, before a slightly uncomfortable silence descended between us.

“Well then, sorry for bothering you.” My friend decided to break the ice after a little while. “Good to see you’re feeling better, Sakura. We’ll see you tomorrow.” With that said, he quickly ushered me from the room, him following suit as the door slid closed behind us.

“You feeling more relieved now?” He asked me after a brief pause.

“Yeah, I guess…” I scratched the back of my head as I looked at our surroundings, before spotting Shinji at the end of the corridor.

He was looking intently at the door at the corridor’s end that apparently refused to budge, although I myself have never seen anyone using said door before.

“Hm, what’s Shinji doing?” My friend voiced my thoughts for me. “You gonna go and ask him what’s up?”

“Yeah, since we’re here.” I replied as I straightened up. “You gonna come?”

“No, don’t think I can.” My friend motioned to the opposite direction down the corridor, and as I followed his gaze, I spotted Ms Fujimura. “My next assignment involves Ms Fujimura, so I’m afraid I’ll have to split here.”

“Alright, thanks for accompanying me then.” I waved him goodbye as he left, before I turned over to Shinji.

“Hmm…” I could hear him muttering as I drew closer. “That’s weird… Why won’t it open?”

“Hey, Shinji.” I called out to him as I stepped closer, the blue-haired young man turning over to look at me.

“Huh?” He greeted my appearance with a dour face. “What, you haven’t left yet? Hold on, don’t tell me…” He squinted, looking carefully at me up and down. “No, never mind. Losers like you shouldn’t be on campus right now. Who knows; you might get whacked by that killer on the loose.” He flicked his hair as he finished. “Hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

As I was already quite used to his abuse, I didn’t bat an eye. Instead though, I couldn’t help but ask him directly:

“What’re you up to, Shinji?”

And almost as though he saw a pit viper, Shinji reared up and almost started shouting.

“Sh-Shut it, you! It won't mean anything to a nerd like you, but I? Wait wait… why am I explaining anything to you? Just get the hell out of here already.”

“Aw, come on; can’t you just share a bit?” I asked him, trying to see whether I could help him or not.

“No, don’t bother trying to help.” He stated clearly, holding out one hand to stop me while rubbing his forehead with the other. “I’m the genius here; I can figure this out myself. Just go play reporter or whatever the heck it is you do in your club.” With that finally said he turned around and went back to intently studying the door.

I gave a little shrug of defeat as I turned around again and started walking back down the corridor to take care of my original assignment.

“ME?!”

And was quickly met with an incredulous cry by Ms Fujimura echoing down the corridor, my friend stood in front of her cringing at her outburst.

“Me, living with a student?!” She cried again. Apparently he had the horrifying task of interviewing Ms Fujimura about that rumour I heard on second floor, about her living with another student.

‘ _I pity you…_ ’ I couldn’t help but shake my head with a wry smile as I stood by, listening in. ‘ _Although, Ms Fujimura, you’d do well to keep your voice down if you don’t want this rumour getting out of control…_ ’

“Aaagh, no! I’m his guardian! Just his guardian!” She was clutching her head, in embarrassment or shame I did not know, as I saw other students in the area turn to watch her…“The child of one of my parents' friends had been living alone, so I've been helping out: I go over to his house on occasion to check up on him, but that doesn’t mean I live there with him! I don't! Not at all!” From here, even I could see the sceptical face my friend was pulling.

‘ _Why’re you defending it so vigorously?_ ’ Was my only thought at this point. It was a sentiment likely shared by my friend, still standing his ground before the Tiger.

“…Hey! What's with that face?!” Ms Fujimura’s likely picked up on that as well. “You don't believe your own teacher?! You're a good kid. You don't even know what those bad kids mean by ‘living together,’ right? RIGHT? And now, your teacher needs to give those kids who are spreading these rumours a little educational guidance…”

“Oh boy…” I couldn’t help but mutter to myself as I shook my head, a kendo sword appearing as though out of thin air in Ms Fujimura’s hands, as she stormed off up the stairs to find the girls who were spreading that rumour. “God bless your two souls…”

“It’s times like this that she earns her nickname without fail, eh?” My friend evidently saw me and came over, clearly frazzled by his wild encounter. “Ugh, I better report to the Chief about this.” He shook his head before giving me a quick glance. “You better go and take care of your own story too; it’s getting pretty late.”

“Yeah, you’re right…” I confirmed as I glanced at my watch. “See you later then.” I waved him goodbye again as I quickly stormed up the stairs to the third floor, hoping that whatever awaited me up there didn’t take up too much of my time.

‘ _…Déjà vu much?_ ’ I couldn’t help but think to myself as I climbed up the stairs, remembering how side tracked I got yesterday too.

* * *

As a rule, students aren’t allowed to go up onto the rooftop; only the Student Council Office and the Faculty Office have keys for the door.

And luckily, today Issei was there on the third floor as I arrived up the stairs.

“Issei!” I called out to him as he just finished speaking to a group of Student Council members dressed in black like he was.

“Hm?” He turned over to look at me, before smiling and coming over. “Good afternoon; sorry that I couldn’t talk to you yesterday about the Archery Range; the members at the Office yesterday informed me of your arrival.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, your stand-ins were very helpful.” I replied, setting his worries to rest.

“I hope that you didn’t find anything… suspicious over there, did you?” He raised an eyebrow as he inquired about my investigation.

“Well, unless you count Ms Fujimura suspicious, no.” I laughed as I told him that. “Although she herself could be the subject of a million articles alone!”

“I see.” He smiled in response. “Well, what brings you up here today then? More work for the Chief and Journalism Club?”

“Yeah; the Chief’s really busy these days it seems, trying to get as many articles as she can ready for the next issue.” I replied. “Today’s about a rumour of a girl on the rooftop…”

“A girl on the rooftop?” He repeated what I told him, before his eyes lit up. “Oh yes, her. She just happens to be up there right now: I saw her going up there holding the keys to the Rooftop a moment ago. She probably got them from the faculty office beforehand. You can go and have a look now if you’d like.”

“Alright, that saves me a lot of trouble then.” I nodded in response. “Thanks for filling me in about that, Issei.”

“No problem.” He waved me farewell as I went up the last flight of stairs to the rooftop, pushing the metal door open soundlessly.

Flooding the rooftop was the golden light of the setting sun. Situated atop of a hill, Tsukumihara Academy’s rooftop had a breathtakingly spectacular view of the town below; being perhaps one of the tallest buildings in the area accentuated this fact. But I wasn’t captivated by the view of the glowing city below me.

No, what had captured my attention stood far, far closer to me.

“What a beautiful sunset…” She said to nobody in particular.

A young woman dressed in a bright red, high-collared shirt, its tight sleeves extending all the way to cover up even her palms. Dead centred on its chest area, was emblazoned a bright, white cross. The black miniskirt she wore just barely covered the tops of her thigh-high boots, its colour matching her equally jet-black hair that could reach all the way to her waist, had it not been tied into the two tails that hung from the sides of her head.

She stood at the edge of the building, leaning on a set of railings that was the only thing preventing her and a drop from three stories high. Under this golden sun, it was as though I beheld a painting before me; her almost perfect figure shining with almost the exact same glow as the surroundings.

“I can only imagine how captivating this sight must be for the people who live here.” Apparently still unaware of my presence, she continued speaking softly to herself. “It is indeed a very beautiful scene… But it’s a shame that it doesn't really exist. On the surface it seems like such a benign, peaceful world.” She paused for a moment, taking in the sight one more time before she restarted her almost sobering monologue.

“But at the same time, this place is merely an idealized imitation of the real world… An imitation world that would end soon… And one done in poor taste I must say. I have to wonder, whether there really is any value to a memory that can only be observed and then left behind… Then again though, that’s the entire point of a memory, isn’t it?”

She turned her head towards me as she finished, as though she was directing the question to me. But she didn’t give me a moment to ponder over the possible meanings of her words as a small smile formed on her lips.

Her unwavering gaze was different from Mr Kuzuki’s yesterday. Not menacing, so much as scorching; burning with a purpose, an intensity that rivalled even the glowing afternoon sun that shone down upon us. An unwavering gaze that, I felt, could burn away all the chaff around her, and see things invisible to common people like me.

And I’m saying this, even though they were coloured a bright blue aqua, instead of something more fitting for this rising star.

“What’s this?” She asked as she cocked her head to one side, looking at me. “A notice from the system? Thanks for bringing it to me.” Confused, I stood silent and still, watching her as her face took on a slight hint of confusion.

“Hm, that’s not it?” She queried at my lack of response. “That means you’re probably one of the generic Masters… Well, if one of the irrelevant Masters can get here, I guess I’ll have to find another hangout for the remainder of this dull preliminary period.”

She continued to mumble under her breath as she quickly approached my still-frozen body.

“Well, I guess this is a good time as any for me to look one of you over.” She spoke clearly again as she reached my position. “Stand still and don’t move from there, could you.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, her hand reached up to just barely touch my cheek. At that moment, a sudden surge of power, like electricity, erupted from the point of contact, forcing us apart.

“Wha-!” She stepped back in slight shock at the reaction, even though I stood stock still, completely unable to comprehend what was going on.

“Is this a warning from the system?” She began mumbling to herself again as she placed a hand to her chin, clearly in thought. “Direct interference does break the rules, after all…”

And in the next instant, her figure disappeared from sight.

It was as though nobody was there to begin with; her figure disappeared from one moment to the next, without a single trace.

“…A ghost?!” I stepped back in surprise, almost falling down the stairs behind me as my body suddenly became active.

But still, whether she really existed or not, the image of her standing and watching the town below under the golden light of the setting sun, was indelibly burned into my mind.

“Oh, you’re still here?” A voice spoke behind me from the staircase as I turned around to look.

Issei Ryuudou was standing there, alongside my friend who must’ve gotten curious about my assignment.

“It’s almost time for school to close, so you should prepare to go home.” Issei’s voice snapped me back to reality as I nodded absent-mindedly before going down the stairs, walking past him and my friend.

As I heard Issei close and lock up the door to the rooftop, my friend had already reached my side.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, clearly concerned at my silence. “You seem a little pale…”

“Eh?” I shook my head in an attempt to reorient myself. “Ugh, I must be tired or something…” I turned to look at my friend as we descended down the stairs to the first floor of the school, telling him about the sudden disappearance I just saw on the rooftop.

“Damn; the Chief’s gonna be in for a shocker about this when you talk to her tomorrow!” He exclaimed in surprise as I finished.

“Yeah…” I couldn’t muster a more convicted reply, as the headache I felt growing this morning when I helped Sakura to the Nurse’s office suddenly took a painful grip on my brain as we made our way out of the school.


	2. Two days of Chaos

**Act 0: Scene 3**

**1 Days Remaining  
**

_An auspicious star, its dazzling light  
Drowning out even the chimes of bells_

* * *

For some reason, the headache I had from yesterday refused to leave; there was still a dull, throbbing pain at the back of my head. But as it was small, I didn’t pay it too much attention on my way to school.

I entered the classroom this morning to see all as it should be: My friend slouched over his desk, waiting for lessons to begin, and Shinji Matou surrounded by his usual house of fangirls.

“’I’m telling you; you don’t have any talent.’” He commented, apparently recounting some event that had happened recently. “’Give up before you end up looking like a retard.’ So can you guess what he said to that?”

“What? What? What did he say?!” The girls were busy crowding around him, eager to hear the next part of the story. “We’re dying to know! Tell us!”

“This wuss goes all boo-hoo, and says-“ Shinji began putting on an act, probably trying to imitate the poor soul he was insulting. “’I’ll keep practicing until I get better. I can at least get better than you, who skips practice!”

He flicks his hair out of his face as he finished. “Sorry, don’t make me laugh! Anybody knows that you can’t ‘practice’ your way into being a genius! If he wants to practice something, he should practice not sounding like some broken tool!”

I heard my friend give a small, brief sigh, before smiling uncomfortably at me. I couldn’t help but return his smile, I suspected that he was the sad soul Shinji was stomping on. Evidently they must have talked to each other a bit yesterday after I left for the rooftop. Probably too distraught to reply back to Shinji’s retelling, all he could do was try and hide his shame in the corner of the room at his desk.

“Though I gotta admit, he ain’t a complete maggot, but trash is still trash; and trash like that only belongs in a garbage can. He should realise sooner or later that people aren’t created equal: Even people who are born above average can never reach the same heights as the naturally gifted!”

His air of superiority is a complete 180 turn from yesterday’s sulking, after being put down by Rin Tousaka.

“You must be sooo talented if you don’t need to practice, Shinji!” One of the girls squealed. “I can’t help but feel bad for the poor guy.”

“Trash can’t help being trash.” Shinji replied, matter-of-factly. “It should learn to stop dreaming of turning into something better.”

As he finished speaking, the bell for class rings as his clique of girls shuffle back to their own seats.

As we waited for Ms Fujimura to arrive, I found myself replaying Shinji’s words again for some reason…

Whether or not Shinji actually has the talent that he claims to have, it seems pretty clear that I can’t hold a candle to him in comparison. I mean, I’m a veritable nobody, with no goals in life. Even if I were to try and think that far ahead into the future, I can’t help but get overwhelmed by it all.

With that being said, I’m just content as it is to plod along my daily life, eventually reaching my completely average future, the same with tens of millions of other people. Yay.

Though I have to wonder: Are there actually people who can break that mould? And if so, how?

“Haah.” I shook my head in resignation; thinking how to break the mould even though my future’s already been cast. I shouldn’t bother worrying; for me, it was just another day on the road to an average future.

At least, I thought it would’ve been just another normal day…

Ms Fujimura had already entered the room by the time I had finished my inner monologue, and had already finished wishing everyone good morning.

“Well, kids, this is a little out of the blue, but today I want to introduce to you a new friend.” She called out as she reached the lectern.

For some reason, the throbbing in my head from yesterday began pounding harder and harder, as my heartbeat began to accelerate, my muscles tensed up on their own and my hairs stood on edge. And I could tell I wasn’t the only one who felt this way: All around me, my fellow classmates also turned to high alert, even my friend next to me had straightened up from his earlier humiliation. It was as though a lion had suddenly entered a closed room full of sheep.

I know that this wasn’t a reaction to Ms Fujimura’s arrival.

Nor was it a reaction to the fact that she _did not_ fall down this morning…

No… It’s someone else.

He was dressed in an overly red version of the Tsukumihara Academy’s uniform, with unusual black gloves and white boots that reached partway up his shin. He didn’t look as old as many of us here in second year, yet his pair of emerald-green eyes observed us all with calm certainty beneath golden locks that descended to just below his chin.

It was the boy that Ms Fujimura had brought into the class with her.

This blonde boy was the one triggering my fight-or-flight instincts.

“Go on, Leo.” Ms Fujimura continued, apparently not recognising the sudden change of mood throughout the class. “Introduce yourself.”

He turned to her, apparently not understanding the meaning of her words as he asked her without concern: “For what purpose?”

“Huh?” Ms Fujimura seemed dumbfounded that a seemingly simple request was shot down so quickly. “Well, Leo… You’ll be attending the school with all of these people, so I’m sure they’d like to know who you are.”

“Ah, of course.” He nodded in understanding. “These good people do not know my name yet.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, without a shred of stage fright that normal students would have felt when placed in his position, the young boy named Leo turned around to us and began speaking in a clear, calm voice.

“Everyone, my name is Leonardo Bistario Harway. Eventually, it will be a name known throughout the World, but for now it is the name of your classmate. I’m pleased to meet you all today, and hope we may enjoy our time together.”

I couldn’t do anything to respond to his introduction.

My friend couldn’t help but blink in shock.

Even Ms Fujimura was lost for words.

The entire class couldn’t do anything to respond to the overwhelming amount of confidence this young boy exuded. No jabs at his strange, outlandish manner of speaking. No cries over how pretty he looked. No questions about how young he seemed, nothing at all.

Not even any mutters about how strange it was for a student to come in so close to exam time.

Absolute silence reigned in the class, entranced by his regal bearing and speech, as though our poor presence had been graced by a King.

It was at that moment, that Shinji’s words came to mind, and in seconds, I was hit with an epiphany…

This is what it means to be on a different level.

This is what it means to break the mould.

None of us, not even Shinji, could even hope to reach the platform that this young boy stood on. The gap between us was just that great: He is a King that was destined to look down upon us, his mere subjects.

I couldn’t help but wonder: How did he end up here, among us plain commoners. There must have been some sort of mistake somewhere. The pounding in my head however, kept me from thinking about it too deeply.

“Ahhh… Umm… ” Ms Fujimura had finally found her voice again as she fumbled for a way to break the ice. “Anyway, everyone, please make Leo feel welcome. If you could, please take a seat Leo. It looks like the third seat in the second row from the right is open. Is that alright for you?”

‘ _The third seat in the second row?_ ’ I couldn’t help but think. ‘ _That’s three spaces in front of me, at the furthest back seat._ ’

“… Leo?” The boy turned around to Ms Fujimura, as though he didn’t know that people liked to shorten long names like his. “Ah, you’re addressing me. I see no reason to not allow you to call me Leo, as it didn’t feel awkward to hear it from you. If you have the chance, I’d very much like for a delightful woman like you to visit my country one day.”

Out of the blue, he threw that invitation to Ms Fujimura, sending her into a fluster.

“Wh-Wha?! J-J-J-Jeez, don't joke with your teacher! To your seat, Leo! I won't smack you since… Well, it was kind of flattering of you to say that.”

“Of course.” He replied, unperturbed. “I appreciate your diplomacy, Ms Fujimura.”

At that moment, the boy named Leo cracked a smile. It was an easy-going, uncaring smile that only children are capable of. And in response to such a simple smile, the tension that had frozen the entire room thawed immediately. Even some of my other classmates began to smile themselves.

Perhaps, he’s not so much a King, but more a Prince. Though he is clearly on a different level to us, he has a natural skill and charisma that could bring us up to his level easily. But as with many other things; it seemed as though even this Prince was unable to sway all of us…

“I don’t like him.” I could hear Shinji’s muttering voice coming from the seat next to me. “Flirting with the teacher already? That arrogant little twerp.”

If you have any questions, ask anyone in the class or myself.” Ms Fujimura continued, her mood soothed over like the rest of the class. “Er, I mean come talk to me first; there’s no need to be shy.”

“Yes, I understand.” Leo nodded in affirmation. “I’m pleased that I will be attending such a good school from today onwards.”

At a relaxed pace, Leo walked over to his seat two spaces in front of me. Just as he reached his seat, I thought I felt his attention shift over to _me_. Not to my friend next door, not to Shinji who was still badmouthing him under his breath, but to insignificant me, alone.

Even if it were for just a second, there was no reason for such a superior being to have recognised me out of them all, so I ignored that fleeting feeling as classes recommenced.

* * *

Nothing else of significant interest happened today, although the arrival of Leo alone was enough to set the school off in a buzz. In my case, a sense of unease had clouded my heart ever since this morning, as though the cogs of life had suddenly been misaligned. On top of that, the headache I was feeling since yesterday had slowly grown in intensity too.

Then again, this is probably the result of overexcitement that, for once, something out of the ordinary had happened

Excluding yesterday’s event on the rooftop of course.

Speaking of which, I should probably go and-

“Yo.” My neighbouring friend called out as he came over to my desk, his bag slung over his shoulder already. “You off to find the Chief?”

“Yeah.” I nodded as I stood up. “You already on your next assignment?”

“Nah.” He replied, shaking his head. “I couldn’t catch her yesterday to report about Ms Fujimura, so I’ve got to report today.”

“Alright, both of us can talk to her at the same time then.” With that said, we headed for the exit.

“You think the rumours of that slasher could be true?” I asked him as we exited the class. “Fewer and fewer people have been showing up for school nowadays.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” My friend glanced around the corridors, the markedly fewer heads compared to two days ago, when the rumour first surfaced, clearly noticeable. He shook his head, as though trying to clear his brain of something. “Don’t know if it’s true or not, but I guess it’s better if we just be careful.”

“Yeah; can’t do anything if we’re busy being cut up into 17 pieces.” I joked, just as I noticed someone at the end of the corridor.

Even though he was a new arrival at the school, his entrance and introduction made it almost impossible for anyone to forget about him. His red uniform already stood out enough, but the lack of students in the corridors made him even more prominent.

“It’s Leo.” I muttered as my friend followed my vision.

“Yeah…” My friend noted.

“Want to go say hello?” I asked, looking back at my friend. “He might be a little lost, being in a new school and all.”

“Maybe, yeah.” He replied, albeit half-heartedly. Ignoring that, I began walking towards him, my friend following close behind.

But as we approached, it seemed as though someone else was already talking to Leo.

“…And there you have it.” A voice told Leo. Although we couldn’t see who was speaking, the voice definitely belonged to Mr Kuzuki’s, the newest teacher. Clearly my friend realised this too, and the fact that we may have stumbled into something we shouldn’t have.

But, as the Chief always said: ‘One must never avert their eyes from Life’s mysteries’. And now that we were here, we had no choice but to stay until its end. Quietly, we moved in behind a pillar that blocked Leo’s view down the corridor to remain hidden as we listened in.

“To summarize, about thirty percent of the participants have already overcome the computer's brainwashing.” Mr Kuzuki continued, the two clearly unaware that we were eavesdropping from a distance. “These individuals have now completely regained their memories, and can all be classed as rank A magi.”

Unlike previously when he spoke to the rest of the students, and to me outside of the sports hall, Mr Kuzuki was speaking politely, and almost… reverently, to Leo.

“One girl in particular made quick work of the brainwashing; you could say she's a natural, and therefore more adept than magi who have been more sheltered. Unlike those domesticated sheep, she's a wild mouflon: Stronger, rarer, wilder. She couldn't even bear to put on the school uniform the other sheep mindlessly wear for the remainder of the preliminaries… But as novel as that girl's wildness is, wild things end up in cages. Still, I ask you to keep your distance and your guard up.”

Only one person comes to mind who could possibly fit this description: That girl that I saw on the rooftop yesterday. Apparently she was no ghost then, although that leaves another mystery as to how did she just disappear into thin air yesterday.

“This Rin Tousaka.” Leo began speaking now, while providing me another piece of the jigsaw puzzle for the ‘Little Red Rooftop’ story. “The Harways in Asia have voiced some concerns regarding her presence: She is the daughter of a noble family, which makes her unruly behaviour even more unbecoming of her.”

“I simply just…” Mr Kuzuki seemed lost for words suddenly. “She is a failure, like the other dropouts… And hence is just below your concern…”

“No, Teacher.” Leo responded calmly. “There's nothing in this world that doesn't concern me. But more importantly, I wonder what a domesticated being like me can learn from her wild bravery.”

“There is nothing you can learn from a beast like her.” Mr Kuzuki denied Leo’s curiosity vehemently. “Because you are already perfect: What you lack, the world itself lacks in its entirety.”

“That was a joke. It's been a while since I've been scolded.” Leo waived Mr Kuzuki’s praise as he continued. “I think I enjoy it coming from you. But in any case, I'll heed your warning about her. So are there any other important happenings at this school before my arrival?”

“… An elderly man named Zouken Matou.” Mr Kuzuki replied after a pause. “Though he may seem frail, it appears it is only a façade. According to the agent investigating him, he is like a ‘bottomless pit of secrets’. There is suspicion that he may even try to do something to jeopardise the entire system itself, although for what purpose he has been very meticulous in concealing...”

“Interesting…” Leo nodded as he digested what he had heard. “While I would like to see what it is he has planned, it would likely be too late to do anything about it once he has set them in motion: The Moon Cell must remain intact for the Harway Family’s usage. I trust that you will be able to take care of him for us.”

‘ _Moon Cell?_ ’ I couldn’t help but pick out those few words as I digested the conversation. ‘ _Why does… Why does it sound so familiar? Ugh, it’s like I’m trying to grab hold of jelly thinking about this._ ’

“Of course; you need not worry about a shadow like him.” Mr Kuzuki replied simply without hesitation.

“Continuing, is there anything else that we should pay attention to?” Leo asked again.

“It's worth noting the doll sent by those alchemists.” Mr Kuzuki continued. “I have yet to confirm anything personally, but a different agent has confirmed that she has also managed to overcome the system’s brainwashing already.”

“Hmm…” Leo tapped his chin in curiosity. “I don't believe I've ever seen how an alchemist fights: Their charms, or their symbols, rather, are quite unusual. This would be an interesting opportunity. Aren’t you curious yourself, teacher?”

“Please wait until we have more information about this Alchemist assassin first.” Mr Kuzuki asked in response, although his voice didn’t sound particularly interested. “Those are the ones we are paying most attention to. However, there are others with excellent abilities as well. As I said, those who have managed to overcome the system’s brainwashing can all be classified as rank A magi, even those that manage to just before the preliminaries end. And there are a number of them already, aside from those three.”

“Hmm, I don’t see the need to worry or rush.” Leo replied nonchalantly. “I think there's much to be learned from observing this school. I'd like to take my time and enjoy, for instance, the beauty of things like the garden behind the school: They seem to employ quite the skilled gardener. It may do you good to come and have a look sometime, Mr Kuzuki. Or should I say, Brother.”

“I must respectfully decline.” Mr Kuzuki cut off. “I still have unfinished business to attend to for now. And so ends my report.”

“I see.” Leo said in acceptance. “That’s too bad. But on the other hand, it would be best if we had as little contact as possible for the remainder of this preliminary: It is unusual for a teacher and a student to meet like this.”

“I understand.” Mr Kuzuki replied. “Please be careful.”

“Yes, I will.” Leo responded. “You too, Brother.”

Following those words, the two of them disappeared perfectly in sync, as though into thin air like the girl on the rooftop yesterday.

“I had no idea what the heck they were talking about.” My friend shook his head slowly in a dumbfounded expression. “But I know for sure we weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“I think I’m going to have to tell the Chief not to be so eager about sticking her nose in everything…” I nodded in agreement, my face probably also just as stupefied as my friend’s. “We’ve already picked up that bad habit it seems though, sadly.”

“It seemed that the old man we saw two days ago really was their grandfather though…” Even though we weren’t supposed to hear it, my friend and I had picked up quite a lot of interesting titbits as my friend reminded me of that incident.

“Yeah, and it seems you were right about the Matou family having more secrets than a library has books…” I nodded, grimly.

“Eugh, in any case we should probably try and forget what we heard…” My friend rubbed his temples tiredly. “It sounded really dangerous for one thing.”

“Yeah, that’s true…” I nodded in agreement as I took a closer look at his face. “You don’t look so good though, anything wrong?”

“No, just a headache.” He continued rubbing his temples. “It’s pretty light though so nothing too bad, though it’s been throbbing there for a while now.”

“My head’s been throbbing slowly too since yesterday’s encounter with Little Red Rooftop actually…”

“I read a notice pinned up next to the Nurse’s office yesterday.” He continued. “Said that a lot of students are getting these migraines too; probably due to exam stress it says.”

“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “I haven’t even thought about them really…”

“Me neither.” He pulled a tired smile before turning around and walking off. “Come on, we better go find the Chief.”

I nodded in agreement as I turned around along with him.

“Club Ace and Club Ace #2!” A familiar voice shouted down the corridor as I made eye contact with the Chief, her small body already rushing towards us like a runaway train, her hair flailing again behind her like a makeshift cape.

“Can’t you call us by our real names?” My friend sighed in exasperation as she reached us, almost knocking into him in the process.

“Calling you guys Club Ace and Club Ace #2 is faster.” She already shot off her answer before going on the offensive. “Where were you?! I’ve been running up and down the entire school looking for you two! I need the info on your stories, stat! Ace #2, you first!”

My friend almost smacked his head into the wall out of irritation at how fast she can rattle on, but still delivered his report about Ms Fujimura only helping out another student on occasion, instead of living there directly with him.

“Uh huh, I see…” She nodded her head in acknowledgement. “Great, thanks for that; I knew I could count on you!” She flashed a smile, before starting again. “Your next assignment’s-“

“What, already!?” He cried out in shock.

“Up on the third floor.” She continued without heeding him.

“Listen to meee!!!” He almost collapsed in a pile. “You aren’t even gonna give us a single break? Not even with the exams looming?”

“Ace #2.” She pouted at him as she continued talking. “This is why you’re Club Ace #2, and he’s Club Ace.” She pointed at me as she finished. “He can keep on going and going and going, and by that time you’ve already dropped dead. So put some spirit into it!” She punched the air to emphasise her point as her energetic aura washed over the two of us.

“Guh, Why did I join this club…” He could do nothing but slap his face with his palm, letting her pin the next assignment on him.

“Right, next one’s on the third floor…” She repeated as her voice began to die down suddenly as she read the paper she was holding. “Uhmm… Your contact there’ll give you more details.”

“Is this another ghost story?” He asked her dryly.

“Y… Yeah… Got a problem with that?” She snapped back defensively.

“That explains why you’re reluctant to talk about it…” He commented under his breath.

“Shut it!” She retorted. “In any case, I’m leaving that to you, so chop-chop, go!”

“Yeah yeah, got it Chief, cya both later.” He gave us both a quick wave, before heading for the staircase.

“Right, now Club Ace: What’s your story?” She asked, turning to me as the Vice-Chief arrived at the scenes behind her.

“Honestly you aren’t going to believe what happened yesterday.” I took on the scariest face I could muster. “Little Red Rooftop disappeared right before my eyes almost the moment I met her!”

“Oh…” She replied, blinking several times. “Little Red Rooftop vanished… before your eyes?” She repeated what I said again, before pausing for a moment as I expected her to freak out any second.

“Well, if she disappeared then there’s nothing much we could do about that.”

“…What?” I couldn’t help my jaw dropping at her very lacklustre response. “Nothing we can do? No freaking out? No ‘ _Oh my god, don’t scare me like that!?_ ’ Kinda thing?”

“…What are you on about?” She asked quizzically as I ran through the only logical responses I could have gotten from her.

Then again though, the problematic part isn’t her lack of reaction to a ghost story, it’s the fact that she isn’t willing to pursue further a case of a person disappearing entirely!

“In any case, your assignment is investigating the Courtyard Chapel!” The Chief continues on without caring about my confusion…

“Hey, did you know that there’s a chapel on campus, even though this isn’t a mission school?” She continued, ignoring my perplexed face. “It seems the chapel has been here longer than the school. This is just a rumour, but they say that it's haunted and magic rites are performed there.”

‘ _For someone who I once thought of being drop-dead scared of the occult, the Chief was suddenly very calm about it all…_ ’ I couldn’t help but think even as she talked. ‘ _Even the disappearance of ‘_ Little Red Rooftop _’ failed to trigger any responses at all…_ ’

“I'm sending you to investigate.” She continued. “If you take a left on the first floor after you come down from the staircase, the entrance to the courtyard chapel is at the very end of the corridor. I’ll leave you to take care of it; I gotta talk to someone about that new kid in town.” Without sparing me another thought, the Chief quickly left.

But it seemed as though she also left the Vice Chief here, who was staring at her now vacant position. There was a look of shock and confusion on her face, probably because she shared the same thoughts as me on the Chief’s sudden change in behaviour.

“The Chief…” She began, blinking several times. “Seems strange today…” Her hand rose up to her forehead, holding it tightly. “Ugh, what? Why do I feel queasy all of a sudden… ?”

“Hey, careful!” I grabbed a hold of her as she almost collapsed onto the floor. “Do you want to go to the Nurse’s office to get some rest?” I asked her.

“Uh, yeah…” She nodded weakly in thanks as she stood up properly again. “I’ll probably have to take the rest of the day off actually…”

“Alright;” I confirmed with her. “If I see the Chief or any of the club members I’ll tell them you started feeling sick and went home early.” She nodded in acceptance as she waved goodbye to me, before slowly going down the stairs.

“…The hell’s up with that?” I asked nobody, completely confused. “And I think my own headache’s slowly getting stronger and stronger as well. Still, I better finish off the Chief’s article though, since I still got a job to do, I guess.

Even though I’m more interested in investigating the sudden change in mood of the Chief more than this…”

Afterwards, I too made my way down the staircase to the first floor. On the way, I happened to look at the same bulletin board that the Chief was using for the past two days. On it was written:

**_“Tsukumihara Times Special Edition: ‘Gateway to the Paranormal!’”_ **

**_“Our staff investigated reports that the Archery Range is a Gateway to the Spirit World.”_ **

**_“Frustrated at being teased, an underclassman opened the door to find…”_ **

**_“Mr Kuzuki! On top of rumours that he’s part of a suspicious organization, this is too weird!”_ **

**_“Could he be the one behind the recent disappearance of so many students? Who can say…?”_ **

“... Wait, what?” I couldn’t help but ask aloud. “Mr Kuzuki? No, I found Ms Fujimura there at the Archery Range… At least, that’s what I told the Chief yesterday.” I rubbed my temples thinking of how such a mixup of communication could take place.

“And for that matter, where did that ‘suspicious organization’ bit come from? Or that bit about him being behind the recent disappearances?” I continued to mutter as I dissected the incorrect report.

“Gah, I better report this to the Chief as well the next time I see her.” I flung my hands up in the air in exasperation. “There’s too many things going on right now for me to think about this too much. And I can’t think with this damn headache…”

With that said, I quickly made my way down to the first floor, trying to ignore anything else that may be going on to finish this crazy stuff quickly today.

 _‘Come to think of it though; Shinji was busy messing with this particular door yesterday…_ ’ I thought as I quickly reached the entrance, looking up and down its metal frame slowly. ‘ _And for that matter, I never knew that there was a Chapel on campus, like the Chief said…_ ’

As I placed my hands on the door, I felt a sudden, unexplainable wave of nausea assault my brain, as though my body was reacting to something on the other side. Already weakened by the headache that was still persisting, I nearly threw up there and then, before catching myself bent over.

“Guh, the hell?!” I muttered as I struggled to keep the contents of my stomach in. “Oh come on; I just need to get on the other side and I’ll be done… What’s the worst that could happen?”

I tried to persuade my body to push open the door, but it still took several minutes before I could regain enough control to do so.

What I was greeted with, was a beautiful garden made up of a myriad of colourful flowers. A single path cut through, taking a left directly from the position where I stood, and circling round a large fountain. Equally spaced around the fountain, were several wooden benches for people to rest on and enjoy the view. From the fountain, taking a right lead out of the school and past a gap in the school’s perimeter wall into a forest, where a large magnificent Chapel stood.

‘ _That’s probably what the Chief’s asking me to investigate._ ’ I thought to myself as I looked around at the beautiful garden and the fountain, convincing myself that there really wasn’t anything to worry about at all. The golden rays of the setting sun gave it all a mystical feeling as I took a few steps forward towards the garden.

‘ _Yeah, see? There’s nothing to worry about here._ ’

As I looked at my surroundings, I noticed that in fact the garden occupied most of the hollow cavity of the ‘U’ shape that was the school’s main building. This meant that, for some reason, I never realised that from the main corridors within the building, I could have seen this garden, and the chapel clearly if I wanted to.

‘ _Why is that?_ ’ I couldn’t help but ask myself. ‘ _Why did I never realise this garden was here? Why did I never see any of this for who knows how long I’ve attended this school? Was I just that dense to have never bothered to take a look out of the window?_ ’

As I reached the fountain at the centre of the garden, I took another look at the garden, imprinting the beautiful sight into my memory.

Or at least, it would have been beautiful, had it not been for a black figure that seemed to rise from the flowerbeds themselves.

It was Mr Kuzuki, standing in the middle of the road leading up to just before the chapel, his back turned towards me. Apparently the wall that had rimmed the school campus prevented me from seeing him as I entered the area.

‘ _What?_ ’ I blinked in surprise as the conversation I overheard between him and Leo came into mind. ‘ _Why is he here?_ ’

I stepped backwards instinctively, remembering the terrifying experience I have had whenever he was around.

And unfortunately, my foot stepped into a flower patch, making a _squish_ noise.

… Squish?! My eyes darted down to the origin of the sound, recognising a hand poking out of the flowerbed that I would have otherwise stepped in.

‘ _A…. A corpse!?!_ ’ I stood frozen, unable to even choke the words out as my eyes watched on in horror, as the corpse literally _dissolved_ beneath me; black particles of smoke rising up from the flowerbeds where the body had been hidden with a venomous _hiss_. Following that, was the voice of the person I least wanted to hear.

“Why are you here?” Mr Kuzuki asked menacingly as he turned to look at me, alerted by the sound of the dissipating body. “I’m certain I locked that door. Well, I suppose I’ll test you out.” He had already locked me in position with that cold, dead stare of his, nailing my feet firmly to the ground. He stood there, still for a moment as I felt cold sweat come from every pore of my body.

Then in a flash, it came-

My body was bowled over into the flowerbed behind me, as though struck by an invisible force as Mr Kuzuki stood motionless, still watching me intently. Chaotic thoughts quickly buried my brain like an endless torrent of sand: What happened? Can I move my limbs? What hit me? Where did it come from? Who? Why? How?

My brain was near the limit from the incessant headaches; it couldn’t take the strain of this extra load as I felt my consciousness slipping.

“I see what you are now.” Mr Kuzuki hissed at me, still standing where he was, far out of arms reach. “Though, it isn’t you I suppose.” The last thing I saw, was him slowly raise his hand towards me, the void in the palms of his black gloves threatening to swallow me as I succumbed to the strain my brain was experiencing.

* * *

“Guh…” I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness; seeing the flowers that surrounded me immediately brought back the memories of what had happened. “Ugh… What was that?” I stumbled to my feet, swaying slightly as the pounding in my head slowly died down into a throbbing sensation. My eyes slowly scanned the area for any traces of what I remembered seeing.

No Mr Kuzuki.

No corpses.

It was as though what I had just seen was all in my imagination. My body was uninjured, though it ached from lying on the hard ground. Even the cold sweat I felt was gone too. But then, who knows how much of time I was out for.

“Shit, this is really getting crazy.” I shook my head as I rubbed my forehead gently, so as not to aggravate the pain in there. “I’m growing delusional, perhaps I really do need to ask the Chief for a short break, and lose my number one position.” I tried to crack a joke to lighten my dour mood as I went back into the school, intending to go home immediately.

Before realising I had forgotten something in the classroom.

“Aw crap.” I cursed tiredly. “I just want to go home…” But even with that said, I wasn’t willing to leave it there overnight, so I ended up forcing my body back up the stairs to the classroom.

Just as I had finished and was about to make my way down the stairs again to leave, my friend appeared from the third floor.

“Yo…” He greeted me, before staring intently at my face. “You don’t look so good, what happened at the courtyard?”

“Ugh…” I shook my head. “I have no idea honestly: One moment I saw Mr Kuzuki there in the courtyard garden along with a bunch of corpses that disappeared into mist as soon as I touched them, then the next moment I woke up dead on the floor, with no corpses and no Mr Kuzuki in sight.”

“Oh wow…” He looked at me in surprise. “Guess you were heading back home then?”

“Yeah, I honestly think I’m growing delusional, and I don’t think I could take much more of this…” I rubbed my head. “And that headache I told you about before has also gotten worse.”

“Yeah, good idea.” He nodded to me, before he turned to head back up the stairs. “Take care then, cya tomorrow.”

“Actually, what were you coming down for?” I asked him as he turned back up. There was no reason for him to come down just to go back up again.

“Oh, no it’s fine.” He tried to reassure me. “I was actually gonna ask if you were free to come and look for that ‘ghost’ with me.” He turned his head to me, smiling sheepishly. “Haven’t had any luck finding her up on third floor: My contact was busy hiding himself so I wasted time trying to find him. When I did manage to find him, he told me that there’s a ghost of a foreign little girl wandering the third floor.” He looked a bit perturbed as he glanced around, before turning back to me.

“He also said that the ghost’ll suck out my soul if I ever make eye contact with her.” He pulled a wry smile. “Just wanted some backup in case I really do end up falling prey to her.”

“I see…” I thought for a moment, remembering what had happened to me back in the courtyard. “Actually I think I’ll come along.”

“Please, no, its fine.” He put up a hand, shaking it firmly as I began speaking. “You go on back home, you look as pale as a ghost yourself.

“Don’t underestimate me.” I grinned at him as I changed course to go up the stairs instead. “Crazy stuff’s been happening around the school now and if there’s something serious going down, we should probably bring backup with each other on these investigations from now onwards.”

“Ugh, I guess I don’t have anything to say to that.” He flashed a smile at me as I reached him, before the both of us began heading up. “Sorry I wasn’t there at the courtyard to back you up myself then.”

“No, its fine.” I shook my head slowly, not to aggravate the headache. “Just thought of this now anyway, better late than never I guess.”

We quickly reached the third floor and took a look around.

“My contact said that the last place she was ‘seen’ was over on the left wing.” He pointed to the right from our position at the staircase, which would have been to the left had we been standing at the entrance to the school.

“Let’s head over there first then.” I replied, my friend nodding in acceptance as we headed over.

At this time of the day, everyone was either busy at clubs or had already gone home. The latter was apparently the majority, both with exams and the already fairly high population of students staying home because of the slasher rumour.

So up here on the third floor, it really felt like a ghost-town: The silence alone was terrifying. I could understand why my friend went back downstairs to look for some help.

It didn’t take long before the two of us had reached the end of the corridor without seeing any indication of a ‘ghost’ anywhere. Just as we were about to turn around, I suddenly felt as though someone was staring intently at my back.

“…Can you feel that?” I whispered to my friend as I stopped, motionless as I still faced the end of the third floor corridor.

“I think so… What do you think that is?” He too had stopped, probably in response to my own surprised movements.

“There’s someone staring at us.”

“Oh shit.” He sighed as he turned his eyes upwards. “What do we do?”

“Uh…” I blinked for a moment as I tried to reach a conclusion through my headache. “There’s really no other option at this point, is there?” I asked him back.

“I suppose so, eh?” He replied, evidently understanding my meaning.

“Yeah.” I nodded slightly in affirmation. I saw my friend sigh once as he slowly began to turn around, as I too followed suit. Of course, there wasn’t anything there and I was just imagining things.

Or at least, that’s what I wanted to say.

Instead, in the middle of the corridor, there stood a young girl.

Her size alone implied that she couldn’t have been much older than 10, with her porcelain-white face still having much baby fat on it. The clothes she wore put her at complete odds with the surrounding school: A hooped skirt with masses of frills, and a white cap that covered her pure-white hair. Although, with the rest of her clothes looking like something straight out of Victorian-era Britain, it was probably wrong to call it a cap.

As the two of us observed her quietly, the little girl didn’t move a muscle.

It was as though she was a doll, just standing there waiting for someone to play with it.

It was as though she was part of a painting, with her sad eyes staring fixatedly at the two of us.

Then, without warning, her figure began to melt away into the surroundings. And as she slowly faded away into nothingness, the last things to disappear were her sad eyes that constantly stared at us all the way through.

And with her disappearing figure, I also felt the sensation of being watched also disappear.

“Oooh boy.” My friend nearly collapsed into the wall behind us. “The Chief’s gonna wet her panties when she hears about this: She’s almost certainly the cause of that third floor ‘wandering girl’ rumours.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but reply half-heartedly as the image of her sad eyes still remained within my vision, my heart asking ‘Why?’

“Actually, how did she react with the story about ‘Little Red Rooftop’ anyway?” My friend asked, wincing slightly in pain for some reason.

My brain however, still clouded over with a headache and preoccupied with how sad the little girl looked, didn’t register that as I described to him the unexpected reaction the Chief gave.

“Right, something’s definitely wrong somewhere.” He winced again as he thought. “Ugh, we better get home.” He shook his head as he took several deep breaths. “Stranger and stranger things are coming around, and it’d probably do us no good just staying here anymore. I’ll report this to the Chief tomorrow; maybe there’ll be some reaction… Ugh.” He gripped his head in pain, grunting as he stumbled forwards.

“Hey, you alright?” I was drawn out of my stupor as I saw him move unsteadily forwards back towards the staircase.

“Just that headache.” He shook his head slowly. “It seems to be getting worse so I don’t really want to stay here much longer. Thanks for accompanying me up here. Don’t know why I couldn’t find any clues until you showed up. Though this headache just seemed to get even worse.” I could barely catch the last bit after his thanks.

“No worries, let’s go home.” I ignored it as I nodded in affirmation, understanding how annoying a headache could be. Quickly I caught up to him, before we continued walking apace with each other out of the school.

**...**

* * *

**Act 0: Scene 4**

**0 Days Remaining**

_The night is filled with such twinkling light  
A sight to behold on a Sea bathed in Midnight_

* * *

Tiredly I entered the classroom, sliding the door open with no one to greet me as usual. For some reason, the headache that grew throughout yesterday was still there again today, clouding my mind slightly.

But even with that slight haze over my consciousness, it was clear that something was definitely out of the ordinary today.

“Wooow!” A girl squealed. “Okay, then how do you solve this problem, Leo?”

Indeed, today the usual clique of girls surrounding Shinji’s desk had migrated over to the new Transfer Student’s desk, leaving their old idol behind and alone. I looked around for my neighbouring friend, but for some reason or another I couldn’t find him there in the class, or outside in the courtyard today.

“In this case, you substitute this for this, then divide everything by X.” Leo’s calm voice replied the girl, as he fiddled with the paper he had on his desk as the girls watched attentively. “It’s the same equation we used earlier for the other question…”

Well, the reason why the change in locale for the girls was fairly obvious: Unlike Shinji, Leo helps out his classmates without an ounce of condescension or insult thrown at them.

“Whoa, you’re completely right!” The girl exclaimed in joy as she surveyed the paper. “Thanks, Leo!”

Not to mention that Leo actually gets the questions right.

Although, not everyone seemed to share the jovial mood Leo makes with his classmates.

“That bunch of brown-nosing idiots will suck up to anyone who’s got bigger brains than theirs.” Shinji muttered, slouched in his desk as he watched them from afar. “Well, whatever. It's no skin off my back. People who are ugly inside are ugly outside, too.”

I smiled wryly as I heard him, before moving over to my desk. For once, his irritation was understandable. Though, unlike him I never got a share in the attention, so his sentiments weren’t mutual.

“I'll give him this though: That brat is a real charity worker, laying on the charm for those sows.” He turned to me as he continued bad-mouthing Leo as I slouched onto the desk. Not too keen in participating, I guess I could at least lend him an ear to voice his frustrations at being dumped. “He's desperate to appear smarter than me, but I'm real smart one here: I see what he's doing, and he clearly doesn’t have a clue about it.”

Reacting to Shinji’s voice, Leo’s head glanced our way momentarily, before finishing what he was writing and standing up, turning to us directly. Though Leo’s face was inscrutable, it certainly was not hostile as he looked calmly at Shinji.

“Ah, er…” Shinji, who’s mouth kept on rattling on just a few moments ago, was already lost for words under his gaze. And after a few false starts, Shinji finally managed to squeeze out a few words from his lungs. “Wh-What? You need to go?”

Calmly, Leo flashed a smile his way. And although there was no clear sign of an attack coming, Shinji’s body clearly flinched under that soft smile. Unlike Shinji, Leo’s voice and gestures were filled with dignity as he spoke.

“If I have unknowingly given you cause to be spiteful, I offer you my deepest apologies: I had no intention of insulting you in any way.” Coupling this, he gave a graceful bow as an extra sign of his sincerity.

“Shinji Matou, was it?” He asked again as he straightened up, Shinji nodding wordlessly, his face still petrified.

“I’ll remember not to upset you in the future.” He continued after he noticed Shinji’s nod of affirmation. And with his message delivered, Leo then returns to his seat, with no signs of hostility or resentment in any of his actions throughout the exchange.

It was, surprisingly disconcerting, how Leo could respond so calmly to Shinji’s insults, as though he weren’t upset at all… Neither me, nor my friend, who had been putting up with Shinji for who knows how long, would be able to respond like that to him.

And he did it on his first meeting as well!

“Hah.” Shinji let out a small laugh that seemed a bit too much like a sigh of relief. “He knows when to bow down to true authority it seems; a few points for him… Yeah, and since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll just accept his apology. N-Not like he ever did piss me off or anything in the first place…”

I couldn’t help but smile wryly again to myself at Shinji’s reactions, as he double-checked that Leo was again occupied with whatever problem the girls had set him, before feigning calmness and leaning back on his seat.

Just a few moments afterwards, the door opened to admit my neighbour, who looked a bit more worn-out than he rightfully should be. Wordlessly, he crossed over and took his seat beside me, but before I could ask him what’s up, the bell for class to start rang, admitting Ms Fujimura.

“I made it!” She gasped as she turned to us energetically. “Good morning everybody!” Repeating her usual routine, she then took a few steps towards the lectern, before spectacularly falling face-first onto the floor with a _crash_.

Though most of the class were already desensitised to this morning routine of our homeroom teacher smashing her face onto the floor, I for one couldn’t help but cringe every time she does that. And even though we knew she would get up a few seconds later as good as new, we should probably worry about her more.

But regardless, today is evidently just another normal day once again…

* * *

“…Alrighty, let’s pick up where we left off last time. According to Dr. Pieceman’s biography...”

Today, Ms Fujimura was taking the class. I glanced over to my neighbour to check how he was doing, since when he arrived he looked a bit worse for wear.

Just as I did, I notice him spasm, as though he had just been shocked awake, completely unaware of his surroundings.

“Hey; you alright?” I whispered to him, hopefully low enough not to catch Ms Fujimura’s attention.

“Huh?” He blinked several times as he rubbed his temples, before turning over to me and answering. “Ugh, sorry, feeling a little bit tired. Think I dozed off for a second…” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as I nodded in confirmation.

Although my worries did not dispel at his reasonable answer, I turned back to look at Fujimura and focus on the class a bit more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slowly reach down into his pocket and pull out his wallet, before his face visibly relaxed for some reason or another.

“Who here knows what amnesia is?” She asked, breaking my attention from my friend. ”It’s a terrifying condition where an individual loses all of their memories! It can be caused by brain damage, severe trauma, or even infections of one's mucus membranes. The section of the Doctor's biography we just covered touches on this condition…”

“But with that said,” she continued after writing the section on the blackboard. “Using amnesia as a reason to forget your homework isn’t going to work! When I was young, a fair number of my classmates were unscrupulous enough to try this. And before you start getting any ideas, I’m still young! In fact, I’m putting that fact on the test coming up!”

A collective sigh of exasperation echoed in the classroom from all the students still sat at their desks as Ms Fujimura’s lesson begins to go off on a tangent.

All of them, except one that is.

An audible shuffling of chairs drowned out my classmate’s complaints as a figure clad in red obscured my view, Leo’s voice silencing all else as he stood up without being acknowledged by Ms Fujimura.

“Ms Fujimura.” He began, his regal aura already gripping the class tightly as our eyes focused on him. Slowly, he surveyed the room with a mysterious, all-knowing smile as he took in everyone’s startled looks. As his eyes passed over my seat, the headache that had been knocking on my brain immediately burst open to engulf it entirely, a wildfire threatening to burn it to ash.

But I could do nothing to try and ease the pain as I gritted my teeth to try and bear it: Leo’s aura commanded that we do nothing else but look at him.

“And of course, my fellow classmates.” He began again after he had finished his observations. “I am afraid it is time for me to leave. We will probably never meet again, so I wish you all well. Oh, and before I forget…” He spoke out what sounded like a permanent goodbye, before turning back to our teacher. “Ms Fujimura, I think you are still young, even now. Just your presence is enough to remind me of the beauty of youth. Truly, you are a remarkable person.”

“Eh…” Ms Fujimura started, although unlike yesterday she seemed incapable of reprimanding him for doing anything. But before she could continue, Leonardo Bistario Harway took a small bow to her, and disappeared into thin air.

‘ _Just like Little Red Rooftop…_ ’ I thought to myself through my crushing headache. ‘ _What’s going on!?_ ’

“Uhm…” After a long period of thick, all-engulfing silence, Ms Fujimura broke the silence, as all the students in the room turned to her again almost mechanically. “Well, then, er… Let’s continue. Please turn to page 86…”

The sounds of flipping pages echoed in the class, as though what had just happened was all part of a bad story book, and we were just skipping it all…

“Heh, showing off like that in the middle of class.” Shinji snorted, one of a few people in the class that did _not_ start flipping through their book. “If you wanted to use the toilet, be a little more discreet, along with that ‘I have to leave!’ junk.”

‘ _Strange…_ ’ I couldn’t help but think as I gripped my head, trying to soothe the pain as I saw my friend struggling as well from the corner of my eye. ‘ _This is definitely strange… And impossible… A highly suspicious disappearance in front of an entire class, and nobody seems to care… What exactly is going on?!_ ”

* * *

Apart from Leo’s disappearance from class, the lesson continues unabated, as though it were following some kind of script.

Yet for me, everything seems to feel out of place. It’s as though, without me knowing it, the world had tilted ever so slightly, and everything I thought I knew about was slowly sliding off the edge into oblivion.

Even worse was the splitting headache that had been building up over the past few days, before exploding upon Leo’s disappearance: It made it hard to think things through properly; even my vision was covered with some weird static as the pain continued to burn… So much so, even my memories were…

‘ _Wait!_ ’ I caught myself wide-eyed. ‘ _What memories…?_ ’ I blinked several times as I tried to recall even the slightest bit of information about me. But nothing came forward.

Not my history, or my age, nor my parents or why I was attending this school, how my actual home looks like or how to get there, nothing.

Not even my name showed up on that blank slate which was my memory.

‘ _I can’t remember anything!_ ’ I couldn’t help but panic as I gripped my head, doubling over in my seat in bewilderment. ‘ _My memories had been completely erased somehow… How, When, and Why did this happen!?!_ ’

“No wait; solve the problem at hand first.” I muttered to myself to try and calm down. “Who would know my name… Or anything else about me-” I looked up in realisation.

“The Chief should know at least that… The Club Application form I should have filled out should have my name at least!”

Without wasting another second I got out of my seat, before bolting out the classroom doors and scanning for the Chief’s small figure.

I didn’t have to wait too long.

“Yo, Club Ace!” I saw her figure rush towards me through the, significantly smaller, crowd of students. For the first time, I didn’t feel exhausted as I was exposed to her usual overwhelming rush of energy.

“Did you find anything about yesterday?” She immediately asked as she got to my position.

“Chief, I’m sorry but can I ask you something first?” I cut off her chain of thought, before things got out of hand.

“Huh?” She seemed perplexed at my unusual refusal to tell her what she wants. “Um, yeah sure; what’s wrong?”

“Chief… What’s my name?” I asked her seriously.

“Huh? Your name?” She blinked several times. One would normally start laughing if they were asked directly like that. But instead-

“Just… Look it up in the registry at the Library.”

‘ _Good point: The registry._ ’ I thought to myself as I nodded and thanked her, before immediately turning down the corridor, ignoring anything and everything around me. ‘ _The registry has all of the student’s names from this year and all consecutive years back until the school’s foundation…If I can find my name there, it should jog my memories…_ ’

The School Library was located on the second floor where I was, on the right wing of the U-shaped building. Supposedly it’s big enough to occupy the entire wing on its own, so I’m certain that it should be there.

It didn’t take me more than a few minutes to get myself to the library’s doors, and only a few seconds afterwards to locate the registry amongst its multitude of shelves.

“Tsukumihara Academy Registry.” It was written on its black covering in gold print. Once I find my name in here, I should be able to remember everything about myself…

Immediately I opened it and began turning the pages, scanning each white page for my class and name.

Immediately, I saw something was terribly wrong.

“White…” I blinked my eyes as I kept turning the pages. “Blank…?”

Carefully I placed the book on a nearby table and picked out the registry book for the year prior to mine.

I ended up throwing down the book in frustration before I picked up another registry.

And then another.

“Blank, blank, blank, blank! Every single page’s blank!”

Every page in every registry book I picked up was blank. With my final hope of getting an answer fading in a mere instant, I forgot about the books strewn around the area and wandered back out into the corridor, completely stunned by my lack of answers.

“Who am I?” I whispered to myself to the empty hallway. “What is happening here? And why am I here in the first place?”

* * *

I didn’t realise it, but it seemed as though I had spent more time in the library than I had initially thought; the entire second floor was already empty.

I stumbled forward from the library door’s entrance to the windows, wrenching the latch open to let a cool breeze flow in, hoping that it will help me calm down and clear my head.

As I surveyed the ground below, I saw the garden from yesterday, occupying the U-shape cavity of the school building, just as I remembered it from yesterday. As my eyes wandered up past the fountain and towards the strange chapel outside of the school gates, I couldn’t help but shudder as I recalled what had happened yesterday, with Mr Kuzuki and those strange corpses on the ground.

I saw no corpses today, my eyes scanning carefully to see if there were any remnants of what had happened yesterday. But instead of corpses, or Mr Kuzuki in the garden, I saw someone else standing before the fountain in the garden; a female student I had never seen before.

“…Is she a student?” I asked. “…No, I can’t label anyone like that anymore with all that has happened… She isn’t even wearing the correct uniform anyway.”

From this distance, all I could make amidst the haze of the golden afternoon sun, was the woman’s long, flowing purple hair waving in the wind, and the white shirt that she wore.

‘ _That’s definitely not Sakura Matou though; her hair is still far, far too short in length for that…_ ’ I couldn’t help but pulled a wry smile as I tried to sift through my limited memories for an identity to assign to this girl. ‘ _Shit, like everything else, nothing comes to mind…_ ’

I couldn’t tell much from up here on the second floor, but it seemed as though the girl was meditating, her eyes closed and her hands clasped together before her chest as she stood motionless before the fountain, facing the school. I could hear the faint chatter of students busy at their clubs or heading home, clearly paying little to no attention at this strange girl in the garden.

I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of unease creep up my spine at this lack of attention her foreign presence garnered.

Just a few moments after it began, the girl’s eyes snapped open, as suddenly the world around me was awash with white light as the sound of howling winds surrounded me, pushing me back away from the window and smacking against the wall behind me.

“Gah!” I gasped as I made impact, the building around me shaking madly as shockwave after shockwave assaulted it, a thunderous roar filling its halls and drowning out the students from the floors above and below.

“The hell’s happening?!” I grunted as I tried in vain to shield myself from the shockwaves that poured through the windows; the others along the corridor having been blasted open by the same force.

Amidst all of the chaos and rumbling of the building, my headache and blurry vision threatened to overwhelm me as I took shelter in the doorway of a nearby, empty classroom. There, all I could do was crouch down and clamp my eyes shut, all the while praying that the building around me wouldn’t collapse.

Although such a fate might be simpler compared to my complete lack of knowledge of my surroundings, survival comes first!

The vibrations he felt rocking the building continued for an unknown amount of time, before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. I remained crouched beneath the doorframe for a few more moments afterwards, prepared for any aftershocks, if there were any incoming.

But clearly, none were as I soon opened my eyes to scan the surroundings, trying to take stock of the damage from what he thought was a strange earthquake.

To my great bewilderment, nothing was out of place in the corridor or classroom I had intruded in for safety: No glass shards, no broken desks, and no fallen plaster or concrete.

It was as if the chaos just mere moments ago was just a figment of my imagination, brought about by his headaches and blurred vision.

“This headache is far worse than I thought…” I gripped his head in annoyance. “These hallucinations are getting worse and-”

But before I could finish my sentence, I noticed a person step up slowly from the staircase.

It was the woman I saw out in the garden earlier, just before the shockwaves hit.

“Hmm…Intriguing.” I could barely heard her mutter as she scanned the corridors for signs of damage. “That blast was supposed to be strong enough to destroy everything in range. Yet, this school is clearly standing completely unaffected by it.” Her eyes fixated themselves on my crouching figure for a few moments, before she flashed me a small smile and turned back down the stairs.

‘ _Strong enough to destroy everything?!_ ’ I could do nothing but blink as that single thought ran through my head. ‘ _What is this, Magic? Does she have some kind of superweapon she can hide in her bare hands?_ ’

Looking up again at the staircases, I was struck with a thought: She could probably give me some answers I seek.

Without wasting any more time, I scrambled to my feet and immediately began running towards the stairs, first heading to the third floor to see if she was there, before backtracking again down to the first floor.

But by the time I reached my final destination, it was clear that she had disappeared completely.

“Shit; maybe I should just go home…” I muttered in disgust as I stood at the first floor’s staircase, rubbing my temples as I tried to clear away the static and the pain that built up during my chase.

But at that point, I saw something else that caught my eye.

At the very end of the corridor, just as he began turning into the left wing of the first floor, I spied an ever-recognisable red uniform.

“Leonardo Bistario Harway…” I whispered to myself as I recognised his figure. “What could he want with the first years, after disappearing like that so dramatically? There’s only a dead-end down that corridor, so why…?”

Before I knew it, my feet were already running down the hallway trying to catch up with his figure.

And just as he had reached the dead-end of the left wing, I managed to.

My heavy panting behind him, Leo calmly observed the wall at the dead end with an almost obsessive interest, before he spoke.

“The attention to detail is quite impressive…” He began, touching the wall with one finger. “Even the surrounding air is surprisingly substantial. If that is the case, this world is, in some ways more real than the real world it attempts to copy. Still, that’s only my opinion. How about the both of you? What are your thoughts on this?”

I tensed up as he turned around to face me: What does he mean by the ‘both of you?’

“Greetings; I believe this is the first time we’ve had an actual conversation together.” He began speaking again as he looked my face over with a gentle smile. My body began to relax slightly as I realised he was clearly talking to me now: Nobody else was here to listen in.

Well, my relaxed state wasn’t only because of that: Leo’s presence, alongside his smile seemed genuinely friendly and warm; like the rising sun in the mornings, with no sense of hostility whatsoever.

“Attending school wasn't half bad at all. ”He continued. “I've never had the opportunity to go to one before now. And in that respect, this has been quite an interesting experience. But sadly, the time for fun has come to an end, and I did not come here to play at being a student. For no matter how enjoyable the detour, eventually one must return to their appointed path. And for me, the time to do so has arrived. Farewell then.”

With his final words, he turned back to the wall he was so intently staring at earlier, before stopping again.

“Actually, no… That isn’t quite right.” Unexpectedly he began speaking again. “I don’t think ‘farewell’ would be accurate in this situation. For some unexplainable reason, I have a distinct feeling that we will see each other again.”

He glanced over his shoulder towards me as he retracted his previous goodbyes, before issuing another.

“So I guess I should use the more congenial, ‘See you later.’ But in any case, it is time for me to move on, and I wish you the best of luck in the near future.”

Finished with what he had to say, Leo then gently placed a hand on the solid wall before him. For a few brief moments, nothing happened to the figure in front of me.

Then, in the next, before I could even blink, his figure disappeared from view entirely.

It was as though, he had been forcibly removed from this existence.

Or perhaps, the other way around was more correct when concerning Leo: He refused to stay in this existence for a moment longer, and forcibly ejected himself from it.

I blinked in astonishment at what I witnessed, my mind working to process what had just happened, and the events that lead up to it.

“Leo said ‘No matter how enjoyable the detour, eventually one must return to their appointed path.’, right?” I repeated his sentence to myself again. “Beyond this wall is that ‘Appointed Path’ then, huh…?”

‘ _My name… My identity._ ’ Those two things that I was worried about before as I found the blank school registry resurfaced once again in my mind. ‘ _If I follow him, I will almost certainly find the answer to those questions. Even if they are painful, but… Do I have the will to face it, now?_ ’

I rubbed my temples for a few brief moments as the headache that had weighed on me seemed to lift, the static covering my vision also dispelling as I reached the only logical conclusion.

“I want to know.” I spoke those words confidently as I stepped up to the wall, placing my hand on it as I closed my eyes.

For a few brief moments, nothing happened. Just as I thought I was making a fool of myself, I opened my eyes-

And the wall before me shimmered for a few brief moments, before dissociating as though it was made of sand, the little particles that made it up dropping to the floor in an instant.

What stood in its place was another, hidden doorway.

An entrance?

Or perhaps more correctly, an exit to an outside world, completely different to the one I had just been inhabiting.

And a world, that held the answers that I seek.

Ultimately, I’m already committed to seeing this through the end, regardless of whatever happens.

With that knowledge, I bid farewell to the false world that I had been living in for who knows how long, and pushed open the doors.

The room behind the doors resembled some sort of scrapyard; dishevelled boxes and shelves strewn about the room, with a single window letting in a beam of light flood the room. On the opposite end of the room I entered there seemed to have been a ‘hole’ in the wall… I couldn’t be certain it really _was_ a hole, as its edges kept flickering back and forth through a variety of combinations, as though it didn’t actually exist.

And between me and said hole, stood a wooden effigy.

As though it had been waiting for me, the effigy took a shambling bow in my general direction as I took a few cautious steps towards it, before standing up straight so that I may inspect it further.

It stood almost a head taller than me, with stick-thin arms and legs that I’m surprised it could walk on. Covering the entirety of its body were strange markings that seemed to glow softly between red and yellow. On what one would call its head, a single circle was drawn, it too pulsing red and yellow alongside the other markings on its body.

Just as I was wondering what to do here, with this effigy, a disembodied voice rang out in the small room.

“Welcome, potential Master.”

I took a step backwards, looking around for the source of the voice carefully. But seeing none, all I could do was wait and listen for its further instructions.

“That effigy with you is your sword and shield for what lies ahead. It will move in response to your commands.” As it finished, the effigy took a few slow, shambling steps to my side as I stood, watching it move around cautiously.

“Now then, please proceed.” The voice spoke again once the effigy stood by my side, clearly meaning the strange, flickering hole in the wall before me. “The truth that you seek lies ahead.”

Though the reasons for why this voice was instructing me like so worries me, it was also obvious that I would learn nothing by standing here with this effigy by my side. And anyway; I had already committed myself to this path, and I refuse to turn back after coming this far.

With careful, but determined steps, I stepped forward into the darkness of the ‘hole’, hoping to find the answers I seek.

* * *

“I made it.” I whispered to myself as I entered the room.

It stood well within the deepest depths of the world beyond that door at that school, past a labyrinth of enemies that I was forced to fight using my effigy.

The room was circular, at least twenty metres in diameter, with the floor an intricate sea-blue glass mosaic. On the opposite side of my entry stood three tall stained glass windows, the emerald-green leaves that patterned each identical window shining as though they were made out of parts of the sun. A strange silence held the room in its grasp; a silence that was reminiscent of a chapel, where the spirits of the dead still linger, observing all who manage to make it this far. And on top of that, a strange layer of purity, as if to ward off corrupted souls that may try to enter and take something.

This place must be my goal.

At least, that was what I thought, until I saw a young man wearing an ever-familiar uniform, flat on the other side of the room with an effigy collapsed by his side.

I took a few tentative steps forward until I reached his fallen position, calling out to him as I did so. When I received no reply, I crouched down to shake him, trying to wake him up. But as my fingers touched his stone-cold skin, I realised that this man was a corpse; no longer alive.

I jumped back in bewilderment and surprise, wondering what the hell could have happened, just as the effigy by the man’s side stood up with a _creak_.

I turned around again to my own effigy who, with a few strides had already put itself between me and this new effigy.

“An enemy then…?” I whispered as the two dolls stared at each other. “Was it the one who killed this man?” But before I could say anything more, the new effigy had already charged forward, directly towards my own!

I jumped back in surprise, putting distance between myself and the battle unfolding, trying to catch a glimpse of any advantage I could give my effigy during the fight.

The enemy’s charge was reckless, fast and violent. Within a few moments it had already crossed the gap, and was lashing out with a straight hit directly at my effigy’s wooden chest.

Just in time the attack was deflected, grazing my effigy’s wooden shoulder as it counterattacked, spinning on its left foot and lashing out at the enemy’s unprotected head.

But just before contact was made, the enemy demonstrated a superior speed against my effigy; ducking at the last moment and swiping my effigy’s feet out from under it!

Collapsing with a dull _crack_ on the floor, it had just mere moments to roll out of the way before the enemy was attempting to skewer it. With a clatter it just barely managed to roll out of the way and onto its feet, just as the enemy smashed the ground with enough force to send several chips of the ground erupting out.

The enemy then took a few moments to look up at where my effigy had managed rolled away to, and saw it begin its own charge, its feet tapping surprisingly lightly on the floor, before lashing out with a flying kick at the enemy’s still-crouching figure.

But again, the attack proved to be futile, as the enemy quickly dodged to the side mere moments before the moment of impact, before pivoting on its free arm, sending its legs crashing straight into my effigy’s side!

It had no chance to dodge the attack, flying in mid-air as it were. With a resounding _crack_ throughout the room, the attack made contact, sending my effigy clattering across the room alongside several splinters of wood, the result of the wound inflicted upon it.

From here, it was already evident even to me, where the scales of this battle were tipping.

Within mere moments the enemy had already pressed its advantage, racing forward towards my effigy which was just starting to get up onto its knees. But before it did have a chance, the enemy was already there, sending another frighteningly powerful kick straight into my effigy’s head!

Again a resounding _crack_. Again splinters of wood flew, along with my effigy that was now unable to defend itself, flying backwards in the air as the enemy flew in again for the final, killing blow.

Still in mid-air, my effigy could do nothing as the enemy jumped upwards to its position, before smashing down with its arm into my effigy’s chest. The force was enough to send it crashing down straight into the ground as its chest was pierced through, wooden splinters flying everywhere like a spurt of blood.

A moment passed.

Then two, the enemy still crouching above my prone effigy, its arm firmly embedded into its unmoving chest.

Then, with slow, almost menacing movements, the enemy effigy stood up, its head turning towards me with a _creak_. I couldn’t help but take a step back as my body was instantly drenched in cold sweat, my mind already knowing what was going to happen.

Almost before I could blink, the effigy was already at my position; its single, glowing red eye staring at me at point-blank range as I stood petrified, unmoving and unable to respond.

And in that instant, I felt its arm pierce my stomach.

I couldn’t help but look down, as my hands instinctively reached to grab the stake that had impaled me, as my crimson-red blood flew out, staining its unblemished wood with my life.

Just as I had grasped the situation, the effigy pulled itself out of my innards with a sickening _squelch_ , as I collapsed face-first onto the cold ground, my legs incapable of keeping me standing.

I couldn’t feel anything anymore. It was as though, with that last attack, all my senses had already shut down in defeat. As my eyes began to dim, a single, disembodied voice was all there was to witness my passing.

“Hmph. You seem to be lacking as well.” Was all it said, its voice containing neither disdain nor crushed hopes, but rather a snide mockery of my futile efforts.

It seems as though I wasn’t qualified to be here. Then again, I would’ve been a genius to qualify without even knowing my own name… And… I’m certainly no genius…

Wait, that’s right isn’t it…

My name… My memories…

I was supposed to remember it all if I came here… The truth that I seek…

It’s here, isn’t it?

I grunted as I tried to get up again, but was only met with a scorching pain emanating from my still-bleeding wound, my red blood staining the beautiful blue floor.

“Damnit.” I could only mutter as I collapsed back onto the floor.

I had no more strength… And… Everything was going…. Dark…

Looks like I won’t be able to get my answers after all, before death claims me…

“Damnit.” I muttered again.

I wasn’t exactly afraid of death…

Now that I stood so close to it, I found myself relatively calm, with the only thing remaining in my mind being regret…

Regret that, even after suffering through those strange headaches and craziness during the past four days, I found only my death at the end of my ‘appointed path’.

Regret that, even after braving through those catacombs, the answers I was promised failed to materialise.

Regret that, even at the very end, I couldn’t figure out anything.

Not even my name resurfaced in my memories.

“Someone…” I couldn’t help but reflexively whisper a prayer with the last of my strength, knowing that the darkness was only mere moments away. “… Anyone… Please… If you make it beyond here… Please, don’t… Don’t forget…”

“…My name…”

And as my vision dimmed and my heart slowed to a stop, the last things I could hear, was the echo of two sets of footsteps coming closer.

Presumably, whoever it was approaching had come here to test what fate had in store for them, just as I did…

But, as the cold embrace of death came to claim me, I knew my time was up as the darkness flooded my vision.

* * *

_“As the night of death claims one short tale,”_

_“Curtains arise on another man’s story.”_

_“For no matter how long it must endure,”_

_“Man will live on through adversity.”_

_“And no matter how much it must bear,”_

_“Man will evolve through difficulty.”_

_“And as how persistently Man lives, so too”_

_“Shall the Holy Grail War Commence once more.”_

“…”

_He stood silently atop a pile of discarded stone._

Like a pile of discarded corpses.

_Around him stood a forest of pillars, stretching out to the distance for as far as the eye can see._

Like an endless forest of gravestones.

_Before him was a metallic screen that floated in mid-air, words and videos playing across it with a green tint._

_Patiently, he watched the events unfold, waiting for what he knew was coming._

_And on cue, a string of sentences appeared on his screen, causing a smile to cross his face._

**_[SERAPH Exception Handling subsystems online…]_ **

**_[An anomalous candidate with two (2) distinct Identification Numbers has been detected.]_ **

**_[Breach of ‘Base System’ Rules detected…]_ **

**_[Commencing preparations for deletion of anomaly…]_ **

**_[Running checks on recently established ‘Exemption’ Rules before deletion is authorized…]_ **

_“It seems the time is nigh.”_

_“Haha, I have high hopes for you, my young protégé…”_

**_[…]_ **

**_[Checks completed.]_ **

**_[’Exemption’ Rules are found to be applicable to Candidate.]_ **

**_[’Base System’ Rules acknowledges application of ‘Exemption’ Rules.]_ **

**_[Previous commands rescinded…]_ **

**_[’Exemption’ Rules are now to be applied to Candidate.]_ **

**_[Preparations for Deletion are to be halted…]_ **

**_[And…]_ **

**_[Two (2) cards will be drawn for the particular Candidate, one per Identification Number.]_ **

**_[Two (2) Servants will be summoned upon successful completion of the Preliminaries.]_ **

**_[Error detected.]_ **

**_[New Parameters are incompatible with current ‘War Structure’.]_ **

**_[’War structure’ requires One versus One Tournament battles.]_ **

**_[Valid alternative Parameters provided within ‘Exemption’ Rules detected.]_ **

**_[Running checks on alternative Parameters…]_ **

**_[…]_ **

**_[Checks complete.]_ **

**_[New Parameters deemed valid and applicable.]_ **

**_[’War Structure’ acknowledges application of Parameters found within ‘Exemption’ Rules.]_ **

**_[Restructuring previous matchup battles in accordance to new Parameters.]_ **

**_[…]_ **

_"And with that done, it is time for the War to begin."_

_"And with that done, the mire of the everyday sloughs off,"_

_"As a war between magi begins,"_

_"While the wheel of fate turns."_

_"Weak one, temper your sword,"_

_"And defend the value of your life."_

_..._

_Silently, he continues to watch._


	3. Two Servants for the War

**Act 0: Scene 5**

**The Day**

_But as a calm sea hides the brewing storm,  
So too must humble days end_

* * *

It's bright.

Too bright.

 I wake up in the morning as always, already on my feet, on the way to a school that I can barely remember, through a town that I can barely recognise.

 Something was wrong.

 Everyday that passes feels like the one before it. A breakfast I can't remember tasting, morning exercise I can't remember experiencing. Lessons my brain doesn't register. Friends who's names I don't even know.

 Something is wrong.

 Now I near the school that was supposedly so familiar, yet so foreign to me. There, in front of the gates, was one of the few friends in this strange school that I can remember clearly. His name was Issei Ryuudou, resplendent in the Black uniform of the Student Council, with the badge signifying him as its President shining almost blindingly against his black shirt.

 Seeing him again made me felt nauseous.

 "Ah, there you are!" He exclaimed as I made my shaky way up the path to the gates, the surroundings blurry as the faint smudges of other students passed by. "Come come, class is about to start and I need to complete my inspections."

 "...Inspections?" I asked after I reached him, the nausea I felt at his presence increasing even more at the word.

 "Yes, don't you remember?" He asked as he looked at my body up and down. "We announced last week that there would be regular inspections by the Student Council to uphold the standards of Tsukumihara Academy. Now, straighten up so I can..."

I couldn't register anymore of what he said, my mind and my sight becoming more and more clouded even as I dimly felt his hands grab my shoulders and patted me down.

 Something was going wrong.

 Even as my mind thought that, completely ignorant of the outside world, my eyes saw the words Issei mouthed, and my hand reached instinctively to pull out the wallet in my pocket, flicking it open and showing its contents to him.

Mechanically, and automatically.

 Wait a minute...

 I blinked a few times as I thought about my actions for a brief moment, before slowly turning the wallet in my direction, to see what it was that I had just showed him.

 It was a picture of a student, a name, the school's name, and a serial number below it.

 An ID card?

My eyes squinted as I tried to focus on the face of the person on the card, even as from the corner of my vision Issei continued talking. Something to do about my uniform, and completely ignoring the fact that I was studying what was supposedly something I should know like the back of my hand.

‘ _This is the first time I’ve seen this card... But is that supposed to be me?_ ’ I heard myself question as I looked at the person’s blank face staring at me from the card.

‘ _Damn, I can’t even remember how my own face looks like anymore!_ ’

As I thought that, and as I attempted to remember what I even looked like, a wave of splitting headaches assaulted my already clouded mind. As though my skull had been shattered into pieces, my hands reached up to grasp my head in a vain attempt to keep it together, my teeth grinding in an attempt to stifle the pain so that I could focus.

And even then, Issei continued talking about his inspection, completely ignorant of my pain or of my bewilderment.

I gritted my teeth again through the pain. Forcing myself, I pushed past Issei into the school building, no doubt the look of pain on my face clearly visible as the headaches continued mercilessly, the pain ever growing as my mind attempted to concentrate, to remember how my own face looked like.

Yet despite that, despite my ignoring of him, despite my forceful entry into the school grounds, Issei Ryuudou continued talking to a student that was no longer there.

“What is this?” I heard myself groan as I turned to the school grounds, the burningly bright sun still beating down upon me. “This can’t be right-”

Then, through the quagmire of pain in my head, an idea came to me.

“A mirror… I have to find a mirror.” I muttered as I approached the main school building’s doors. “If I can’t remember what my face looks like, then I’ll just have to see it for myself!”

Just as I thought those words, another wave of skull-splitting headaches washed over me.

Taking in a deep breath, I stumbled over towards the doors, trying to stay conscious despite the ridiculous headache I was feeling.

‘Quickly…’ I thought as I pushed my way in, the sudden dimness of the corridors forcing me to pause for a moment as my eyes attempted to readjust to the lighting.

It was a good thing that the men’s toilets had the characteristic blue man imprinted on it, so I could recognise it easier. But then, completely unsuited to my state of mind, a thought occurred to me.

‘ _Wait a minute… I’m not even sure if I am male!_ ’

“I don’t have time to think about this!” I almost screamed out loud in response even as I fought to stay conscious through the pain in my head.

My breath ragged, I pushed forwards despite that almost insulting doubt, through the throng of students that were making their way towards classes, their constant chatter something that my mind phased out even as I heard the bells of the school chime.

‘ _Come on!_ ’ I screamed in my mind as the headaches grew worse and worse with each passing moment, threatening me with blacking out if I waited even a moment longer.

With a dull thud I put my entire weight onto the doors of the toilet, forcing my way in as my eyes darted left and right through the unfamiliar room, searching for a mirror.

I didn’t have to look very long.

There to my right it was, covering a good portion of that white ceramic wall, the sinks just below it.

And indeed, the face that greeted me there was the exact same face as the one imprinted on the card.

Dressed in brown clothes befitting of a student, with long-sleeves and pants with the emblem of, what was supposedly, Tsukumihara Academy embroidered into the area covering his heart. He stood at roughly five feet ten, give or take a few inches, his unkempt brown hair reaching up to the base of his neck as it partially covered his eyes.

That was the image on the card.

That was me.

That revelation, though answering my initial question, only brought about more questions, coming into my brain faster and faster like a flood of roaring water escaping from a dam:

‘ _How come I can’t even remember my face or name?_ ’

‘ _Why did I doubt that was my face on the card?_ ’

‘ _For that matter, what is my name, is it also written on the card?_ ’

‘ _Why did Issei completely ignore me earlier, and continued to talk to no one at all?_ ’

‘ _Why can’t I remember anything about this school and the people here, even though I feel as if I’ve been here all my life, indeterminate as that is?_ ’

Scores upon scores of questions flooded my already beleaguered brain as I lost control, the pain overwhelming my senses as I felt my mind flood itself with darkness in a final attempt to shut off the pain and chaos I was experiencing.

As the face reflected in the mirror began to disappear, a voice at the back of my head snidely whispered to me:

‘ _Well, at least you’ve also confirmed that you’re male!_ ’

I didn’t have the time to shout back a reply before I blacked out.

* * *

He regained consciousness with a start.

His body twitched as his eyes opened, darting around for a few fleeting moments before he slowly raised his head to observe the room.

“This is… The classroom?” He whispered to no one in particular as he saw the ever-familiar, yet foreign layout of desks before him as the students all sat there, watching their teacher.

‘ _What was that…?_ ’ He thought to himself as he slowly let his body relax, trying to get a clear mind as he looked around him. ‘ _A dream? No… It couldn’t have been…_ ’

He pressed his fingers against his temples, rubbing them gently as he tried to recall what had happened. His brain throbbed slowly, though it was far, far better than the excruciating pain he could just barely remember experiencing. He then looked again at his surroundings, trying to take in this now-foreign locale.

“Hey; you alright?” His neighbour whispered to him, hopefully low enough not to catch Ms. Fujimura’s attention. He shook his head slightly to realign himself, before glancing to the sound of the voice.

It was his friend, and fellow member of the Journalism Club. Apparently his neighbour had noticed his spasm as he woke up out of that ‘floating’ state, and called out to check whether he was alright.

“Ugh, sorry; feeling a little bit tired. Think I dozed off for a second…” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he watched his neighbour nod in confirmation, although his friend didn’t seem that convinced…

‘ _My name._ ’ That thought occurred to him out of the blue as bits and pieces of the morning’s-or what he thought was this morning-events slowly came back to him as the voice of his homeroom teacher continued unabated.

Slowly so as not to attract attention from his neighbouring classmates, he pulled out his wallet and, hiding it just under the surface of the desk, he flicked it open and took a long look at the face that stared up at him.

‘ _Yes, that is my face._ ’ He thought to himself as he recalled the image he saw, if only for a brief moment, in the toilet’s mirrors. Slowly, his eyes scanned the card, before resting on two words.

‘ _Mihara… Hakuno…_ ’ His brain read out the words, instinctively recognising them as his own name, even though he could not recall ever hearing those words spoken to address him before.

“Who here knows what amnesia is?” Mihara’s homeroom teacher, Taiga Fujimura asked suddenly, breaking his train of thought abruptly. Out of surprise, he quickly flipped his wallet closed, before stuffing it back into his pocket as Ms. Fujimura continued talking.

“It’s a terrifying condition where an individual loses all of their memories! It can be caused by brain damage, severe trauma, or even infections of one's mucus membranes. The section of the Doctor's biography we just covered touches on this condition…”

‘ _Doctor?_ ’ Mihara blinked for a moment as he tried recalling what the current lesson was about. ‘ _Dr. Twice H. Pieceman... Yes, I remember now… He could cure amnesia, couldn’t he?_ ’

“But with that said,” Ms. Fujimura continued, “using amnesia as a reason to forget your homework isn’t going to work! When I was young, a fair number of my classmates were unscrupulous enough to try this. And before you start getting any ideas, I’m still young! In fact, I’m putting that fact on the test coming up!”

A collective sigh of exasperation emanated from all the students still sat at their desks as Ms. Fujimura’s lesson begins to go off on a tangent.

All of them, except one that is.

“Ms. Fujimura.” A regal voice belonging to only one person that Mihara could think of, cut through the quagmire of frustration from the other students.

Leonardo Bistario Harway, his bright, outlandish clothes emphasising how much of a different world he belonged to, stood up from his seat without acknowledgement.

And as if by command, the entire room suddenly fell frozen and silent, as the attention of the students suddenly shifted towards this out-of-place Prince.

“And of course, my fellow classmates.” Leo continued as he surveyed the room, smiling gently, yet mysteriously in response to everyone’s startled stares.

‘ _What the-!_ ’ Mihara’s brain was assaulted with a splitting headache reminiscent of the one he had experienced this morning as Leo spoke, even overcoming the surprise he felt at Leo’s sudden actions. But despite the pain, all he could do was continue staring at Leo’s direction, his hands unable to move to comfort his burning head.

“I am afraid it is time for me to leave.” Leo continued as his eyes continued to look around at us. “We will probably never meet again, and so I wish you all well. Oh, and before I forget…” He continued on just as he was about to stop, turning back to Ms. Fujimura at the front of the class.

“Ms. Fujimura, I think you are still young, even now. Just your presence is enough to remind me of the beauty of youth. Truly, you are a remarkable person.”

‘ _What do you mean, ‘remind me’?_ ’ Mihara thought, even as the pain continued assaulting his brain, his body still as solid as a statue.

“Eh…” Ms. Fujimura began, caught off-guard by this abrupt statement.

But before she had a chance to continue, Leo took what seemed to have been a very slight bow, before abruptly disappearing into thin air. And with him, it was almost as though the ability to talk disappeared as a thick, inescapable silence descended upon the classroom.

“Uhm…” Ms. Fujimura was again, the only person who could break the silence, as all the students in the room turned to her almost mechanically. “Well, then, er… Let’s continue. Please turn to page 86…”

As though Leo’s leaving was a blessing in disguise, the class then resumes on its original objective, the sound of flipping pages reverberating throughout the classroom as students followed her order.

“Heh, showing off like that in the middle of class.” Shinji snorted two desks away from Mihara’s seat, one of a few number of people Mihara could see within the classroom that did _not_ reach to open their textbooks.

“If you wanted to use the toilet, be a little more discreet, along with that ‘I have to leave!’ junk.” But even though he wasn’t one following the majority rule, he clearly didn’t feel uneasy about his disappearance at all, as with the rest of the class and their teacher…

‘ _As though he knows something else we don’t…_ ’ Mihara’s thoughts cut through as the pain in his head became worse.

‘ _Wait, what the hell just happened!?_ ’ Mihara’s brain suddenly kicked in gear as his stopped time scrambled to realign itself. ‘ _Leo’s just went up and disappeared form the middle of the classroom! He didn’t go through any doors; he didn’t say where he’s going; isn’t this a bit TOO unusual for absolutely no commotion in the classroom?!_ ’

As those thoughts ticked through his brain one by one, the pain he felt became incrementally larger, eventually rivalling that which he felt at the beginning of the day.

‘ _Shit, not again…_ ’ Mihara grunted inaudibly as he felt his consciousness slipping in an attempt to cut off the pain. ‘ _What the hell is happening here!?!_ ’

That was his final thought before his consciousness slipped away from him once again, before he could delve deeper.

* * *

“Gah!” Mihara gasped as his eyes darted open, sweat immediately forming on his brow even though the temperature surrounding him was comfortably cool. Suddenly awake, his body lurched sideways before colliding into a wall which he instinctively used as support.

His heavy breathing slowly calmed down as he quickly took in his surroundings, looking up and seeing the sign above his classroom.

‘ _2-A… My classroom…_ ’ He thought to himself, before turning and glancing through the open door.

Not many people were still in there now, the golden orange glow of a setting sun filtering through the windows on the opposite side of the room.

‘ _That late…?_ ’ Mihara’s brain quickly went trying to process the events that had happened during the day, the panic he had felt from his sudden awakening still lingering, the foreign, yet constant throbbing pain at a minimal level right now.

“Hey, you don’t look so good.” An unexpected voice called out to him as he stayed still, leaning on the wall next to the door of his classroom.

Turning his head to have a better look, he saw a female student dressed in black: A member of the Student Council with ever-familiar long, brown hair was looking intently at him, her face betraying a hint of worry, yet at the same time a hint of amusement.

It was the Chief of the Journalism Club.

‘ _Does she want the details about the next article…?_ ’ Mihara thought to himself as the throbbing slowly grew harder.

“Do things seem a bit ‘fuzzy’ around the edges?” She asked unexpectedly as his eyes widened slightly. “Hehe, it looks like you’re almost there.” Unexpectedly, she cracked a smile and giggled at him despite his clearly distressed state, before moving on without a further care in the world.

“…Chief?!” He tried turning around to see if he could ask her for any bit of information about his current status, but she was already long gone.

Her unexpected question, and response, kick-started his brain from its half-asleep state, immediately scrambling to process as much information as he could.

‘ _First, this morning… Issei and the uniform checks, then my ID and my unknown face and name._ ’ He recounted. ‘ _Then during class today, Leonardo’s sudden declaration and disappearance… My constant, random blackouts plaguing me throughout today… This is just too crazy to be right somewhere!_ ’ He gripped his head in frustration and pain as he felt the throbbing at the back of his head suddenly turn into a small, but sharp pain.

‘ _Ugh, I think I need some fresh air…_ ’ He thought to himself as he turned towards the staircases and going up to the third floor. ‘ _Supposedly there’s that Garden my friend investigated yesterday, before I asked him to look at that ghost story… Maybe looking from up there will calm my mind a bit more…_ ’

* * *

He rubbed his head gently as he reached the third floor, turning to his right, and walking down the left wing of the school to have a look out the nearest window. The supposedly ‘hidden garden’ that he had been informed of by his friend yesterday being what he desired to see right now.

Slowly, he took in a few deep breaths, before taking several more steps. As again with yesterday, the silence was unnerving: Already, many of the students were busy in club activities, or had gone home, or never even came in the first place due to the ‘Slasher’ stalking the school…

And as again with yesterday, he suddenly felt as though there was someone watching him.

‘ _Strange…_ ’ He couldn’t help but think to himself through the static and pain in his head. ‘ _Yesterday…Only my friend could feel it…But today…It’s her alright; she’s definitely here again…_ ’ While his headache was annoying, he was also very curious about the little Victorian girl he had met yesterday with his friend on assignment. For some reason, he couldn’t help but remember those sad, sad eyes watching the two of them yesterday as she disappeared without uttering a single word.

‘ _I better let her speak first this time, so as not to scare her away again…_ ’ He thought to himself again as he stood still, waiting for her to speak, or for her presence to disappear.

But to his surprise, his feeling neither disappeared, nor did he hear the little girl speak. All he felt was the intensity of her sad, sad stare boring into his back, as though trying to disassemble his workings to understand him.

“…Hey, sorry I scared you yesterday…” He called over his shoulders softly, deciding that he may as well take the first serve.

“…Um…” He got a reply. Her voice matched her small, almost non-existent presence, faint and gentle as she began to speak to him hesitantly, as Mihara kept his back facing her.

“Um… Big brother… Isn’t afraid of me is he? C… Could it be that… Y-you came to see… me?” He couldn’t help but smile to himself at her small, frail voice. “I-If that’s so… I… I’m Alice… I’m always here, so…”

Her voice paused mid-sentence. Worried that she had disappeared already, Mihara turned around slowly to have a look at the person he was talking to.

But she was still there, the little girl named Alice. Dressed as though cosplaying a Victorian girl, her small, quaint figure looked as though it belonged in a painting.

As he turned to stare at her, Alice couldn’t help but flinch a little, taking a small step back as she suddenly began to fade away just like yesterday…But after a few moments, her form re-solidified before Mihara, as she then returned his stare.

For an unknown amount of time, both the grown man and the little girl stared at each other, neither moving nor making a sound. Even with his headache, Mihara somehow was able to compose himself enough so as not to startle this little newcomer. Then, out of the blue, he saw a faint smile form on the little girl’s lips.

“Hey, big bro, let’s have tea together sometime.” Alice said to him, smiling innocently just as the faint voice of a young boy reached their ears.

“Alice, Alice!” It cried out as the Alice before Mihara responded to her, as the two of them turned to look down the corridor just as a small boy almost literally materialised from thin air.

‘ _Oh god; another ghost?!_ ’ Mihara couldn’t help but stiffen in shock as the boy ran over to the two of them.

“Alice; there you are.” The boy said as he arrived in front of the little girl, completely ignoring Mihara’s presence. “I thought I told you not to wander off, the game’s about to begin now and we need to go.”

He couldn’t have stood more than a metre in height; a head of blonde, almost titanium-white hair shone brightly in the afternoon light beneath a brown Windsor cap. He was dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt with an itchy, rough-looking, but certainly warm brown checkered waistcoat atop it. Alongside with matching shorts reaching down to his shin and brown leather shoes, he looked as though he just came out from a coal mine; his skin was marred here and there by the black stains, and his clothes looked just as equally dusty. His youthful face still has yet to lose the innocence of childhood as Mihara couldn’t help but think that the two little children before him a few decades to a century outside of their original time…

“Sorry…” Alice voiced her apologies with her soft voice as she nodded her head. “I was saying hi to big brother…” She turned her head over to look at the person in question, before the young boy stepped directly between the two of them, glaring daggers at Mihara, who stood almost twice his size.

“Then who are you…?” He spat. “I told Alice not to talk to strangers; so who are you if you aren’t a stranger?”

“Oh, sorry; my name’s Mihara. Mihara Hakuno.” He couldn’t help but smile at the newcomer’s overprotectiveness of Alice, even though he wasn’t there a few moments ago.

“I see…” He spoke cautiously, before turning around to look at Alice behind him, who gave him a small nod to show that she trusted this big brother, before turning back again. “My name’s Albert.”

“We should have tea together sometime.” Alice smiled as Albert introduced himself.

“It’s time to go now though, Alice.” Albert replied as he turned around, taking a hold of her hand. “We can have tea together with big brother, if he survives the game.” He turned his head around to look at Mihara, as though doubting whether they’d see each other again come tomorrow.

“Yeah, let’s hope big bro’s strong.” Alice smiled as she turned back to him. “We’ll see you again if you can keep up, big bro!”

With their final words spoken, the two children quickly dissolved into the air around them, their forms disappearing entirely from Mihara’s sight as he could do nothing but watch, confounded at their words and their sense of dress…

“Ugh, this is really crazy…” He rubbed his temples again as he turned around towards the window, “What do they mean by ‘survive’ and ‘game’?!? Do ghost’s really exist either I wonder…Damnit, I should be worrying about what the heck is happening at this demented school, instead of trying to talk up little ghosts…”

He rubbed his head in frustration as he began going back down the stairs, his original purpose of coming to the third floor forgotten as his feet made its way back down to the first floor of the building unconsciously.

‘ _Everytime I feel as though I’m about to push through this crazy quagmire, this bloody headache pops up!_ ’ Mihara gritted his teeth as he slowly made his way down the stairs to the first floor. Just as he passed by the second floor down the stairs, an ever-familiar bulletin board showed up before him.

“…The Journalism Club’s Announcement Board.” He muttered to himself as he slowly scanned its contents, his eyes slowly widening as he read what he least expected to read:

**_“Tsukumihara Times Final Issue: ‘The Bizarre Visual Static’”_ **

**_“This is an announcement to the remaining students.”_ **

**_“The preliminaries will end shortly.”_ **

**_“Once you’ve learned everything, head home.”_ **

**_“Or, you may never get to do so again.”_ **

“The bloody hell’s this on about?!” He reeled back as he finished reading the last sentence. “What’s the Chief writing here?” But before he could ponder further the meaning of these cryptic words that the Chief had written there, he heard an ear-piercing screech echo up the staircase from the first floor.

“Sakura!” It was a voice that could belong to only one person…

“What the heck’s Shinji getting up to again?” Mihara couldn’t help but push the thoughts of confusion from his mind as he turned around and slowly made his way to the base of the stairs, looking around the corner and seeing a somewhat recognisable sight.

Shinji and Sakura Matou were just down the corridor, apparently already devoid of most life save for a few wandering black-clad Student Councillors who seemed not to care.

“Oh… Its you, brother.” In an almost exact replica of what Mihara had seen three days previously, Sakura Matou turned from the bulletin board on the wall towards her brother, her face clearly showing her reluctance to do so.

“I heard that you skipped archery practice, again!” Shinji shouted, waving his fist in front of him at the small girl before of him. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“I’m… sorry, brother…” Sakura could only mutter those words, her face sullen as she couldn’t seem to bear looking at the one she called ‘brother’ eye to eye. “But I–“

“You’re an embarrassment and a disgrace of a little sister!” He continued shouting over whatever excuse she could come up with. “How many times must I repeat myself, Sakura?! Do you really have absolutely nothing up here in this cavity called your skull?! I mean, if you keep listening to others instead of…”

Surprisingly, Shinji’s voice lost its vehemence halfway through his last sentence, his words diminishing in volume until no more escaped his lips. His paralysed figure stood still for a moment, as though he just had an epiphany.

“Wait…” He spoke again. “Wait, wait wait wait…” One could almost hear the abacus in his brain _tick_ in the deserted corridor of the school as he seemed to process some new information he had gleaned from somewhere, his fist pressed against his forehead as he went deep into thought.

“… Did… Did I just call you my little sister?”

‘ _What?!_ ’ His mind shouted incredulously, despite the static and pain that clouded his vision. ‘ _Sakura Matou is_ not _Shinji’s little sister?! What does this mean?_ ’

“I… I mean…” Shinji’s voice continued shakily, as though everything in the world around him was crumbling. “I mean, I don’t have a little sister, I’ve always wanted one but, ugh… Damn; things have been getting really flaky the past few- Gah!?!” He doubled over in pain suddenly just as he seemed to have reached a conclusion, the gasp escaping from his lips enough to make Mihara step out of his hiding place and begin running over to help.

“D-Damnit…” He could hear Shinji curse over and over as he struggled mentally, his hands grinding his temples frantically. “W-What the hell is up with this?!”

“Ah, Brother.” Sakura’s voice, silent throughout Shinji’s sudden epiphany, came up again. But there was something… different, about the tone of her voice that made Mihara’s feet stop dead in their tracks on the way to helping his friend. “You appear to be experiencing fatigue. Inserting apology text… Error detected.”

‘ _Error detected?!_ Mihara’s eyes shot open in shock as his body instinctively crouched down, preparing for something strange to happen.

“Please maintain a calm demeanour.” Sakura’s voice continued as her body took several halting steps forward to the cringing Shinji, who was staring at the girl with terror in his eyes, as if their roles just a few moments before had suddenly been switched. “Brother, please relax. Inserting reassurance text. Error detected.”

‘ _Another error?!_ ’ Mihara could feel cold sweat beginning to trickle down his body as he tried to process what the hell was going on. ‘ _She’s turning more and more into a robot! Who the hell is this person? This isn’t Sakura Matou anymore!_ ’

“What’s up, Shinji?” Her voice continued, slowly gaining a robotic feel to it as Shinji and MIhara could do nothing but stare in amazed horror. “Whatever is the matter, Brother? Select desired sister personality: Things will get worse if you don’t decide. But any choice you make will be the wrong one. S-S-So, why not to-to- totally lose it, Brother? Calm down, down, down-wn-wn… B-B-Bro-”

“UUUAAAGGHH!” Shinji couldn’t take any more as he screamed in fear, trying to block out the broken tape-recorder of a robot his ‘little sister’ had become. “What the fuck is going on here?! Everything’s going haywire!” With what little remained of his motor skills, he turned around immediately and began fleeing the scene, before almost running straight into Mihara’s stone-still figure

Gripping Mihara’s shoulders with quaking hands, Shinji quickly recognised who had entered the stage. “You! Please, stop her!” He began shouting hysterically. “She’s completely nuts! I have to get out of here; stop her!” His panicked face disappearing as quickly as it appeared, Shinji’s quickly diminishing figure was all Mihara could see as he turned around, not fast enough to even muster a reply to Shinji’s panic.

‘ _Well; he sure runs fast for one thing_.’ Mihara smiled wryly as he turned over to the ‘person’ he should be most concerned with.

“Brother, wait!” Sakura Matou lurched forward in an attempt to stop her ‘brother’, but only succeeded in tripping herself over as her robotic voice continued until she impacted on the ground. “Cease forward progress, male relation constru – “

She collapsed with a dull _thud_ , shocking Mihara out of his stupor as he suddenly realised that all he had been doing was staring at the incredible fleeing Shinji and the horrifying ‘School Princess’ Sakura turn-robot. He was expecting a more… mechanical, more metallic, sound as she impacted the floor-the dense thud she made was nothing like what he expected of a robot as he suddenly moved forward to try and help her.

“Bro-ro-ro-th-th-th-th-therr-r-r-r…” Her voice, still full of static called out again to Shinji, who had already ran full out of sight, her head leaning upwards to where she last saw his figure.

“Did you hit your head or something before meeting your brother?” Mihara couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation as he stared at her prone figure, unsure as to what the heck he was supposed to do in this situation, his head still having static of its own flitting about inside.

“I didn’t expect someone like you to be able to pull off such an act so well!” Deciding on a course of action, he firmly grasped her wrist before forcibly pulling her back up to her feet. “Shinji’s ran off already, you can stop the act now…Hey!” He slapped her lightly on the cheek, hoping that something will happen to bring her out of her robotic stupor.

But just as his hand made contact, he felt a slight jolt, as though static had been released…And instead of the crisp _slap_ he expected, his fingers ended up sinking right into her skin!

Both his fingers and her porcelain-white skin had turned into what he could only describe as a _blue slime_ that had merged into each other…What was even more disturbing was that Mihara was just able to perceive what he thought were strange letters and numbers swimming back and forth between her cheek and his fingers!

“The hell-!?” Instinctively he pulled his hand away, before taking a step back as he quickly double checked that nothing had gone wrong with his hands, which had regained their original form.

“Ah…” Sakura’s voice had returned to normal as she blinked a few times, as though she had just awoken from some strange slumber as Mihara looked at her nervously, ready to run as fast as Shinji if something ended up happening.

“I’m sorry.” She began with a bow unexpectedly, after a few moments of the two staring at each other. “It appears that I was overdue for maintenance and malfunctioned. Thank you for correcting the problem... Hm?” She noticed the perplexed look growing faster and faster on Mihara’s face, just as some form of realisation dawned on her. “Oh, I’m sorry again; it seems I was mistaken. You’re a Master, aren’t you?

“…Maintenance?? Malfunction?!” He couldn’t manage much more than a squeak at each word; first this girl turns into a robot, then turns into a semi-slime before prattling on about god knows what!

“Oh, please, don’t mind me…” She bowed again before turning around to leave. “It seems that it’s a bit too early to reveal this…But I do hope you make it through the preliminaries…And…Thank you for correcting that problem earlier.” With what she wanted to say out of the way, she quickly left the scene as Mihara stood dumbfounded by this new information.

“What the hell is going on here?!” He finally found his voice once the girl known as Sakura disappeared from his view, her purple hair vanishing into one of the side rooms as the corridor was once again restored to its usual golden hue. “I don’t understand anything; and this damn headache isn’t helping!”

Out of the blue, Mihara heard the sounds of running feet behind him down the corridor, bringing him out of his train of thought. The first-year corridors should have been empty by now; the few that were here earlier had all been scared away by Shinji and Sakura’s more than disturbing act.

Or at least, it would have been empty had Mihara not spotted the bright orange uniform that only one person would wear.

“Leonardo…” He muttered to himself quietly. _“_ The weirdest factor of them all…”

‘ _He shouldn’t have any reason to visit any of the first-years, having transferred here so soon…_ ’ He reasoned to himself. ‘ _And after that shocking disappearance earlier, what reason does he have to still be here?_ ’

He was walking slowly down the far-end of the corridor; further down he would have only found a dead-end. The only reason he would be here was to visit first-years, which was illogical as virtually everyone has gone home by now.

But he wasn’t the only one still here as well. Quickly trotting behind him was another student, one that Mihara could recognise as his friend and fellow classmate.

‘ _What…are they doing here?_ ’ His mind began through the haze that clouded it and his vision, as an unknown voice reverberated through his head unbidden, as though in response to his question.

_“The truth you seek…_ ”

Slowly, he took a step forward in their direction.

“ _The reason you are here…_ ”

Silently, so as to remain unseen, a few more steps forward.

_“The answers are before you: Do not close your eyes to them._ ”

Then, almost without input from his brain, his body had broken into a jog, following them silently as the pain and haze that plagued his senses finally lifted.

‘ _The truth, the answers I seek, lie before me._ ’ He thought as he saw Leo and his friend stop at the end of the corridor, Leo staring intently at the wall, with his classmate staring in turn at Leo’s back.

“The attention to detail is quite impressive.” Leo began as Mihara reached them, careful to keep his footsteps muffled. “Even the surrounding air is surprisingly substantial. If that is the case, this world is, in some ways more real than the real world it attempts to copy. Still, that’s only my opinion. How about the both of you? What are your thoughts on this?”

Mihara suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine as Leo finished his sentence, as though he was talking to both Mihara and his friend.

Yet despite that Leo continued speaking, seemingly ignorant of Mihara’s presence as a rather one-sided conversation ensued.

“Greetings; I believe this is the first time we’ve had an actual conversation together.” His smile was unnerving. Though it contained no sense of hostility, there was in its place a sense of malevolence that Mihara could not figure out, keeping him on edge.

“Attending school wasn't half bad at all.” Leo continued speaking to Mihara’s friend. “I've never had the opportunity to go to one before now. And in that respect, this has been quite an interesting experience. But sadly, the time for fun has come to an end, and I did not come here to play at being a student. For no matter how enjoyable the detour, eventually one must return to their appointed path. And for me, the time to do so has arrived. Farewell then.”

Without a care for those he was just addressing, Leo turned around to face the dead-end once again, before pausing for a moment.

“Actually, no… That isn’t quite right.” Unexpectedly he began speaking again. “I don’t think ‘farewell’ would be accurate in this situation. For some unexplainable reason, I have a distinct feeling that we will see each other again.” He turned his head to look over his shoulder, looking not in the direction of his classmate, but at Mihara’s position, hidden from the two of them, directly.

“So I guess I should use the more congenial, ‘See you later.’ But in any case, it is time for me to move on, and I wish you the best of luck in the future.” With that said, Leo turned his head back to face the wall, and proceeded to walk forward.

Before being _absorbed_ by the wall in front of him.

‘ _What!?_ ’ Mihara’s eyes darted open at the spectacle that unfolded.

More disturbed by Leo’s disappearance than at his knowledge of being spied on, Mihara stood dumbfounded as his friend also proceeded into the wall, disappearing in the same fashion as Leo.

“So is this it then…” He spoke to nobody in particular, the corridor as empty as a ghost town.

Slowly, he walked forward to the same position, in front of a wall.

“The answers I seek, the way to the truth lies here, huh?” He muttered to himself as he faced the wall, left alone with his thoughts. “There’s probably no turning back now; it’s all or never… But do I… really want to know what lies behind…” He shook his head as he realised what kind of thoughts he was voicing.

”No; this isn’t the time for stalling.” Without any more hesitation, Mihara raised his right hand forward, pressing lightly against the wall in front of him.

And as if by command, the wall before him shimmered ever so slightly, before dissociating like salt being sprinkled onto the floor to reveal a door.

“…I’ve come this far already.” He spoke to himself after a pause, trying to dispel his unease. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

With that said, he raised his left hand, before pushing the door open, and stepping through.

The room he entered was dimly lit, a single window with light filtering through its drawn curtains the only illumination to be found. It looked more like a storeroom than anything else; boxes stacked upon boxes littered the room, sturdy yet ancient shelves pushed against the wall with contents already covered in what seemed to be a millennia’s worth of dust.

It would have easily been mistaken for a storage room, had there not been a gaping hole in the opposite side of the room that Mihara had entered form. It flickered, its edges slowly changing shape over passing seconds, even though the actual size of the hole grew no smaller. Adding to that was a strange effigy standing motionless beside the hole.

Bereft of any facial or bodily features, its simply carved wooden limbs and body had only strange, pulsing red and yellow lines coursing around it, as though it were the doll’s blood supply. Upon its perfectly-carven, oval face, was a single circle that pulsed again with the same yellow-red as the rest of its body.

As Mihara slowly stepped closer towards it, the effigy turned towards him, and with a wooden _creak_ , took a shambling bow in his general direction as a disembodied voice began speaking.

“Welcome, Potential Master.”

Mihara took a surprised step back as his head turned sharply around the room, looking for the non-existent person that was addressing him. And by the time he had finished a look around the entire room, the voice had already begun speaking once again, completely ignorant of Mihara’s confusion and bewilderment.

“That effigy before you is to be your sword and shield for the upcoming trials ahead. It will move in direct response to your command, and follow you faithfully. Now, please proceed through: The truth that you seek lies ahead.”

“The truth, huh…” Mihara whispered as he looked up and down at the effigy sceptically. “Well, it’s too late to turn back now anyway. Let’s get going.” He addressed the effigy, although he knew it was pointless to do so, before stepping forward through the hole with the creaking, tapping footsteps of his effigy following him into the darkness.

* * *

The dark hole that he had stepped to led through a long hallway through a black abyss; no walls protected the sides of the path, and Mihara was certain that if he fell off of the path, he wouldn’t stop falling.

But as with all things, it came to an end as he emerged from the black mire, alongside his silent attendant, into what could only be described as a labyrinth submerged underwater. The labyrinth he had emerged into had see-through walls and floors, with absolutely no roof to speak of. For reasons he could not comprehend, Mihara was in effect standing, breathing, and walking, in water as though it were air. Detached bubbles floated up from the bottom of the ocean, without a care for the new visitor.

As Mihara traced the bubbles down to their base, he saw to his surprise a veritable graveyard: With humongous skeletal bones littering the ground, a myriad of fallen swords that appeared like gravestones in the sand…

It was as if below him was the burial ground of an untold number of soldiers, or perhaps even heroes, alongside the skeletons of the beasts that they had slain during their living moments. He could do nothing but stare at the sight below him.

“Welcome, Potential Master.”

Out of the blue, the same voice repeated the three words Mihara had heard before coming through to this labyrinth. And as before, it had no origin, no body and no mouth for which to let the words come from. It was as if the very molecules in the air were the origin of the voice, vibrating as if to some higher-beings command.

“If you are looking for answers, you must reach the goal at the end of this labyrinth.” It continued, regardless of whether its audience had heard it or not. “Along the way, you will find what are termed ‘Enemy Programmes’. They will attack you on sight, initiating a battle of which your effigy will fight in your stead. I cannot stress to you more, the fact that your body is too weak to fight anything you will meet here personally.” The voice paused, as if to allowing his words to sink in properly, before continuing.

“This is the foremost reason why your effigy fights in your place. Should your effigy be defeated in the process of protecting you from the programmes, you will no longer be shielded from harm. To put it bluntly, you will die. So, please be careful.” Its last words were spoken without a shred of concern for the newcomer.

‘ _Geez, you’d think you would be a bit more worried about me, wouldn’t you?_ ’ Mihara thought dryly, although the fact that he could die here seemed a bit…outlandish for him to accept. Most of the things he’s seen here look as though it was a virtual world, straight out from some sort of videogame after all…

‘ _Heh, I woke up from some horrid nightmare to be stuck in some virtual world…_ ’

“Now please, step forward. The answers you seek are at the goal you must reach.” It repeated itself again, before falling silent, leaving Mihara and his silent effigy alone once again.

“Haah.” Mihara sighed, clearly confused at this turn of events. “I guess there’s nothing we can do about this…” He looked back to his companion briefly, knowing it wouldn’t respond back, before turning forward again and stepping forward into the depths of this underwater labyrinth.

**...**

* * *

**Act 0: Scene 6**

**The Day**

_Where is the Belfry, and that final chime?  
In that moment, those gentle days ended_

* * *

He stepped into the final room slowly, his silent effigy matching his pace behind him. The aura that surrounded him, as well as the very view of the room, was completely different from the catacombs of which he had just emerged from.

Instead of the desolate feeling he had within that veritable graveyard, this place had a far more spiritual feel to it. As though the souls of legends both told and untold, were all stored away here.

The room was circular, at least twenty metres in diameter, the floor an intricate sea-blue mosaic that shone as if made of glass. On the opposite side of his entry stood three tall stained glass windows, the emerald-green leaves that patterned them each shining as if made of shards of the sun’s own brilliance. But although the windows stood upright, they were not embedded into anything that could be called a ‘wall’. Rather, like everywhere else he’s been through, what served as ‘walls’ for this room, was the endless blue of an unmistakeable, unknown ocean, staying unnaturally still in its calmness.

He did not know where he was, and the only ‘thing’ he could ask was his silent effigy companion that had accompanied him through the catacombs leading to this supposedly final destination.

While the young man surveyed the room, attempting to understand what he was meant to do here after being led through that catacombs like a blind man, he saw something that topped his confusion.

There before him, lying in the centre of the room was another person. And Mihara Hakuno had an idea of who it was. In a few moments he was already standing by the body, turning him over onto his back so that he may confirm his suspicion.

Indeed, it was the body of his friend, the one that had followed Leo through the doorway.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked in earnest as he tried to wake him up, gently rocking the body back and forth. And when he got no answer, he could feel a cold hand grip his heart as he thought of the worst possible scenario.

But, there was no wound on him; nothing to indicate a fight. No blood, no cuts, no signs of a struggle at all in this strange void of a room. That was until he saw a speck of red that tainted the blue of the floor. Yet, almost as he saw it, it dissipated into the air, as if it were made of dust…

Slowly, uneasily, he put a finger onto his classmate’s neck to check for a pulse, to give him some reason to brush off his bad feeling. Yet it only confirmed what he feared the most.

This person could no longer be called his friend.

This person was a corpse.

Instinctively Mihara leapt back onto his feet, his eyes still locked onto the body before him even as he took a few paces back away as fear threatened to overtake his mind.

‘ _Why is he dead? What happened? What killed him? Will I end up like him?_ ’ Thoughts and panic overcrowded his brain. But before he could sink even deeper, a familiar, yet dissimilar _creak_ could be heard reverberating throughout the room.

Instantly his eyes shot up, only to be met by the wooden body of an effigy standing over the corpse before him.

In a fraction of a second he turned to confirm that his own effigy was still standing behind him, before turning back to study this newcomer as he pushed the previous thoughts of fear out of his mind.

‘ _This is like my own effigy…_ ’ He thought to himself as he examined it. ‘ _How long has it been here? Did my friend have his own that he brought with him like me?_ ’

He quickly turned his vision down to the corpse again, as if begging it to answer him.

But the only answer he received was another creak as the new effigy stepped closer, disregarding the corpse. And though it had no face, and no reason to be called alive, Mihara felt an ominous air about it as it stepped closer. A feeling which was confirmed by his own effigy, which had in a few moments stepped forward from behind him to confront this newcomer.

‘ _So it’s an enemy then…_ ’ He thought silently as his eyes narrowed. ‘ _I can only assume that it was the one that killed him…_ ’ He gritted his teeth as he thought about it. ‘ _Why did he die? Why did this effigy kill him?_ ’ He shook his head at those thoughts.

‘ _No, now is not the time for that. I can think about that later; after I defeat this thing._ ’

With his mind set, he clenched his fists as he glared at the enemy, attempting to read its movement just as he did with the other enemy programmes he had been forced to face.

Yet unlike the others, this enemy was literally as blank as its own face; Mihara could discern nothing from it. But regardless of his own efforts, Mihara’s effigy leapt forward to begin the fray without a moment’s pause, acting on its own.

In mere moments the distance had been closed, his effigy thrusting forward with its arm in an attempt to pierce the opponent’s chest. Though fast, it wasn’t fast enough; the enemy knocking it to the side with its own wooden arm enough to just barely graze its shoulder.

Following the movement, the enemy effigy lashed out with its feet, smashing into the effigy’s side and knocking it off-balance, crashing into the ground with several dull rings. But it didn’t stop there. In the brief few moments that the effigy made contact with the ground, the enemy was already attempting to pierce the effigy’s wooden head.

With movements that belied its lack of eyes or muscle, the effigy rolled out of the way and onto its feet at the last moment, the enemy piercing nothing but solid ground. The enemy turned its head upwards to look at where the effigy had gotten to, only to be met by a kick smashing squarely into its face, knocking it straight onto its back with a dull crash of limbs.

A few moments of silence clouded the room, before Mihara’s effigy slowly made its way towards the downed enemy.

‘ _Is it finished?_ ’ Mihara thought as he studied the enemy effigy from afar. Throughout the brief exchange he could read nothing of the enemy’s movements, nothing to give his own effigy an edge in this battle. Yet somehow it managed to win.

A thought that was quickly dashed a few moments later, as the enemy’s legs twirled itself around with surprising speed, knocking Mihara’s effigy back with a blow to what would have been its chin, before it stood back up on its feet.

The enemy’s head showed no signs of being pierced by the previous attack as it stood once more in a neutral pose. Mihara’s effigy, though stunned for a few brief moments, regained its composure as it once again faced the enemy, almost daring it to come forwards.

It did not have to wait long.

Barely a moment later the enemy was already on the offensive, lashing out a series of jabs and strikes with its wooden limbs. Evidently it was on a different level than Mihara’s effigy; its speed too fast for nothing but defence, with no counterattacks possible.

Even Mihara’s untrained eyes, unable to forsee anything about this enemy, could see this.

Mechanically, the effigy brought up its own wooden limbs to bear against the onslaught, deflecting and absorbing attacks as best as it could against the enemy. Jab after strike, kick after smash, it continued to withstand the hail of attacks, barely giving way.

But Mihara could clearly see that it could only take so much punishment before its limbs would give out.

Then, through the flurry of attacks, the enemy lashed out one well-aimed kick that penetrated straight through the effigy’s defences, piercing in and smashing its chest.

The force of impact, as well as the effigy’s unpreparedness for such an attack, sending it staggering backwards as splinters of wood could be seen erupting from the point of contact, spraying as if it were blood from an opened artery.

Caught off-balance, and with its defences now crushed, Mihara could only stand and watch as the enemy leapt up into the air, swinging its body for a final, full-powered kick aimed at the effigy’s head.

With no chance to block, with no opportunity to regain its balance, the impact connected, with enough force to completely destroy its head, splinters and misshapen wooden pieces flying everywhere as the effigy’s now-headless body crumpled sideways onto the floor, defeated.

Silence descended upon the arena, as Mihara stared dumbstruck at the rapid, surprisingly brutal battle between two lifeless dolls.

And all the while, the three ‘windows’ watched the display. Silent watchers, waiting for the final verdict to be reached.

“Shit.” Was all Mihara could mutter, breaking the silence within this room after what seemed like an eternity, his eyes glued to the broken wreck that was his effigy.

As if in response to his curse, the effigy that soundly defeated his ally took one, harmless, creaking step forward towards him.

It was enough for Mihara to break into cold sweat.

His eyes darted towards what was clearly a danger to his own life, and instinctively his body crouched ever so slightly, his fists coming up to his face in preparation for what was certainly a fight for his life.

One moment passed.

Then two.

The effigy stood there, waving ever so slightly, ‘watching’ him as he felt the adrenaline pump across his body, his heartbeat crashing in his ears as his muscles tensed, waiting.

It rushed forward faster than he could blink.

The wooden effigy launched itself from its position, crossing the distance between the two effortlessly, its sharpened wooden stake-for-an-arm poised to embed itself deep within his stomach.

Yet, with speed matching the effigy, Mihara’s body reacted, almost without his brain registering.

Ever so slightly, using his left foot as a pivot, he dodged to the left, the stake sliding across the surface of his stomach as the wooden head came ever so close to his own. If it were alive, Mihara knew he would have felt its breath.

But even though his mind was busy thinking pointless things, his hands were already moving.

In that single instant, his hand rushed up to grip the solid wood of the effigy’s face, slowing its movement ever so slightly.

Just enough for his feet to hook around his enemy’s own, bringing them out from under it as his hand pushed forward, driving the wooden doll backwards straight into the ground with as much force as his body could muster.

With an echoing _crash_ , the effigy’s head, and its body following soon after, made contact with the floor, before staying motionless.

Mihara blinked several times as his brain began processing the events that happened. But fearing that the effigy would get up again, he leapt away to the centre of the room, his eyes carefully trained on the fallen doll.

‘ _I… I didn’t know I could do that…_ ’ he thought to himself as he stood there, his body hunched over as he breathed heavily, waiting for more movements.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Unfazed, the effigy jumped back onto its feet, seemingly undamaged by Mihara’s brutal takedown.

“Oh god help me…” he muttered under his breath as his mind repeated the words that he already knew with the destruction of his own effigy.

‘ _I can’t take this thing on and expect to live_.’

Even though at the start of this journey through the catacombs he doubted the portents of death told to him, he found them surprisingly believable as this effigy, so lacking in any auras of intent, stepped towards him with a clear intention to end his life.

The fear he felt was palatable.

Yet even so, he stood his ground, his feet glued tight as his eyes desperately searched for an escape route.

A route that he knew didn’t exist.

His vain attempts were interrupted as the effigy leapt forward again with the same speed and agility, its stake poised to strike into his body once again.

As before, Mihara’s body began moving of its own accord, his body twirling around to evade the initial jab as he attempted to throw a punch with his right, attempting to knock his target off-balance again. But he was a moment too late, as the effigy brought up its own arm to deflect the attack.

Wasting no time, the effigy counterattacked, spinning its own body to send its leg crashing into Mihara’s side, sending him skidding over the tiles as if he were the doll.

He let out a pained gasp as he stopped, the cold tiles only a minor consolation to the burning wound he received. His quivering hand quickly moved to inspect the damage, and although there was none, the pain itself was unlike any he could remember. But his mind couldn’t dwell on that: The effigy was already coming forward in an attempt to skewer him once again.

Mustering his strength, Mihara rolled away from the incoming attack and onto his knees. Just as the effigy had finished stabbing his former position, it jumped up into the air using its deceptively fragile arms, its feet poised to strike at his kneeling form.

Within an instant Mihara stepped backwards just as the effigy landed, before launching itself forward for the kill.

And Mihara’s body, not used to such rapid exertion and shocking pain, was too slow to evade this time.

With the sickening sound of torn flesh, Mihara found the effigy’s face once again too close to his own to feel comfortable; its single red eye watching him without a shred of emotion.

A moment passed.

Afterwards two.

Then Three.

Then, he coughed blood.

Tainting the wooden effigy with his life, Mihara could do nothing but let his eyes drop down to the stake that was cleanly embedded into his stomach as blood continued to well in his throat.

‘ _This isn’t real._ ’

That was all that passed through his mind, as the effigy pulled its stake out from within him, the sudden loss of support sending Mihara’s body crashing down to the floor with a dull _thud_ , his face contorting in pain as his nerves scrambled to process information.

To process the inevitable.

“The fuck – !” He could only mutter between pained breath as blood slowly seeped from his body onto the cold tiles, tainting the once-beautiful blue mosaic with his deep-crimson blood. His hands fumbled to stop the wound in his stomach as his eyes slowly turned up to the wooden effigy that had so cleanly dispatched him.

“Haah.” A disembodied voice sighed in exasperation. “I already told you; normal humans can’t hope to fight enemies here, and yet here you are, thinking you can go off and defeat this thing yourself.” Its sarcastic tone carried no sympathy for the dying man that laid there in the room as it continued to berate him for his stupidity.

‘ _That voice again-!_ ’ Mihara thought as he gritted his teeth, trying to stop his convulsing body, his rising anger burning through the searing pain at this snide voice.

“Tch, oh well.” Its harsh tirade finally stopping. “You seem to be lacking as well.”

‘ _Now what?_ Mihara thought angrily as laboured breaths bubbled from his throat.

“I think it’s time now. With your inevitable loss, it is clear that this round of preliminaries is over.” It paused for a moment, as if to think of a few sendoff words for this final, failed candidate.

“Farewell then. I pray that you may find peace in your defeat.”

‘ _Oh go to hell!_ ’ Mihara shouted in his brain, his body unable to actually say the words out loud. ‘ _First you berate me for trying to live, and now you speak as if you’re a priest at a bloody funeral!_ ’

He didn’t expect a reply to his inner thoughts.

For it was clear, despite how he wanted to believe, Mihara Hakuno was going to die here.

‘ _This is crazy…_ ’ His breathing becoming more and more ragged as his eyes surveyed the surroundings of his burial ground as his initial anger dissipated.

And then, he saw what he least expected to see.

Corpses, scattered everywhere within the room.

Not just his friend that had been following Leo before, but dozens upon dozens of other corpses, some wearing the distinctive brown uniform of Tsukumihara Academy students, and some in regular workclothes, though no single uniform was discernable.

Yet despite the variation in corpses, Mihara knew instinctively that they were all here for the same reason as he was; a reason that none of them could find.

And clearly, neither could he.

‘ _Shit…Shit, shit shit shit!_ ’ Despair almost overtaking him, his mind began cursing everything he could think of that had brought him to this situation, even as blood slowly seeped out of the wound in his stomach.‘ _No! I refuse for this to be the end!_ ’

Slowly, through sheer force of will through the pain he felt, Mihara moved as best as he could until he shook unsteadily on all fours.

‘ _It hurts!_ ’ His body screamed in anguish.

“I know; and I don’t care!” His mind shouted aloud in reply through grinding teeth.

‘ _Let it end! Please!_ ’

“I refuse! This cannot be right!”

‘ _Please just let it end! This is the limit, and all that can be done, has been done!_ ’

“Lies! I cannot rest in peace here! I cannot die here! This is not nearly all that can be done here!”

Yet despite his denials, his body could not stand; his remaining strength only enough to roll back onto his bottom. There, facing the three windows he sat on the ground, corpses surrounding him as his hand went back to clutching his wound.

“So many unanswered questions…” He muttered to himself aloud now as he slowly craned his neck to look around the room, watching the many corpses and the questions they too came here with; unanswered, and forever unanswerable.

“Why am I here? Why is everyone here? Why did I fight? Why did we all have to fight? Why did we all have to die? Are we all destined to disappear without a trace, like cattle to be slaughtered for some mad man’s whim?!” A torrent of questions escaped his lips ever so softly as he felt the burning pain begin to die down, his vision slowly darkening and turning blurry as he knew what was coming. “My fear of death is nothing compared to my lack of answers – I fear my stupidity more than the blackness of death. So tell me…Tell me–!”

He stopped again to catch his breath, breathing in and out raggedly, before turning to the three silent mirrors and screaming at the loudest his waning body could muster:

“I refuse to just roll over and die without having some answers!”

His anguished voice reverberated throughout the room. But as expected, no voice replied him; the three windows still standing there watching silently. Not even the snide voice from before returned to verbally slap him across the face and into the afterlife.

“Tch!” He coughed once, the force sending him tumbling straight onto his back with a single pained groan.

‘ _I guess, I still won’t be getting my answers then…_ ’ He thought, his heart sinking into despair even as death came to claim him.

But just as he finished his words, two voices deigned to prove him wrong.

“Well spoken, nameless traveller!” The first voice proclaimed proudly, as if it were a king speaking to a new entrant to an imperial court.

“Indeed! You must embrace your fear of death, and fight on regardless of what fate may await you. And know this; know that even if the world will never hear your voice, never see your perseverance even on the brink of death; know that I do. Know that I admire and respect it! Now, clench your hands into fists! Hold your head high! For your end, has yet to come!”

“That soul over there, waaait a minute! Just a moment, juuust a moment!” The second voice rang elegantly, as though singling out a member of a grand audience at the theatre.

“Though I have no idea who you are or where you are from, I have heard your lamentations, and I have seen your determination. And though other deities may choose to ignore you; know your cries have come straight through my ears! And now, with the God Uka-no-Mitama as my witness, I declare that it’s too early for this soul to move on to the realm of the dead!”

With the two voices finished speaking, a resounding crash of glass swathed the room as two beams of bright light illuminated something before Mihara.

The shock of the two ephemeral voices answering him in the midst of his despair caused him to almost forget his pain. With renewed strength, he pulled his body back up to a sitting position, his eyes widening as he saw the three mirrors changing.

The middle mirror had shattered completely, its broken fragments falling away into the abyss of a suddenly torrential ocean. In turn, the remaining, flanking mirrors were bathed in an almost blindingly golden light from above, the rays of sun cutting through the deep-black ocean to illuminate the spectacle that unfolded before him.

With a gust of wind, two proud figures stood before the remaining mirrors, the back of their bodies materialising out of thin air.

One was a young woman garbed in what could only be described as a Japanese style ero-kimono coloured like the raging ocean behind her, with loose armsleeves draping over most of her arms, leaving her porcelain-white shoulders bare. Black geta-shoes served to increase her height ever so slightly, while her slender legs were covered with matching indigo stockings. Yet the most curious part about her that immediately grasped Mihara’s attention, were a pair of orange ears peeking out through a mass of pink hair, and an equally mystifying tail of similar colour through the folds of her clothes.

The other figure was another young woman, garbed in a military-styled dress of a vibrant red, the golden epaulets and equally stunning golden highlights of her dress matching exactly with her blond hair, tied neatly into a bun behind her head. While not nearly as revealing as the other woman’s dress, there was a gaping hole exposing most of her back. Still, the red of her dress covered almost her entirety, covering all of her arms and almost all of her feet. Even so, Mihara could just about see what he thought were a pair of armoured feet – sabatons, he corrected himself, covering probably most of her legs.

Red, he thought, as he was jolted out of his revelry.

Blood, his next thought was, as he quickly raised his hand to look at the place where his wound was.

Almost mockingly, as soon as he removed his hand, what was supposed to be his wound evaporated into a cloud of black, almost pixelated mist, as though the gaping hole was just an image painted onto his clothes that was now removed. The blood too that had stained his hands, his clothes, and the ground were gone; evaporating straight into thin air, alongside the burning pain of his wound.

“What is this?” Was all he could mutter as his eyes stared in shock at the vanishing black clouds, before he heard two pairs of footsteps approaching him.

He looked up, to see the two figures he saw before walking slowly towards him, paying each other absolutely no heed whatsoever.

Finally, they stopped before his sitting figure, their eyes trained directly on him.

“I will not ask why Miss Shorty was called here…” The pink-haired woman began sceptically.

“And neither will I deign to pay this fox any attention either…” The blond-haired woman continued scornfully.

“But instead, I will ask you directly:”

“Are you my master?” They demanded almost in unison, their voices intermingling with each other almost disconcordantly, yet with surprising harmony.

‘ _Somehow…_ ’ Mihara thought to himself as his brain raced to process the situation ‘I _feel as though I’m in more danger than I was with the effigy!_ ’

For certainly, the two before him were unlike any mortal women he has ever met before. A power far beyond his comprehension whirled within the two bodies before him; he could feel it clearly. Different, yet not completely dissimilar to the feeling he had when he had met the effigy: Their almost oppressive presence was enough to freeze his spine not with fear, but with awe. He was certain that the two that stood before him made the effigy look like a blade of grass in comparison to a mighty oak.

And he was also certain that unless he gave an appropriate answer, he would just be sent back into the abyss that he had just crawled from.

And there was only one answer that could come to mind.

“Yes.” Mihara stated in the most confident voice he could manage, a reply both short and simple.

It was the blond-haired woman that spoke first this time.

“Your words are few, yet beautiful. I like that. For now, I won’t ask how privileged you feel for summoning me.” Her words, though slow and soft, carried a regal air about them that made them have a far more powerful effect than any words Mihara had heard before. She closed here eyes for a brief moment, nodding to herself before continuing:

“Very well: I give you my blessings, and bestow upon you the honour of being my Master.”

While her words were serious, and carried that ever-present regal aura about them, the other woman ignored her completely, exploding with glee and spinning several times, a feat that Mihara thought to be impossible in such tall geta shoes she wore.

“Yay!” She exclaimed as she spun, her voice perhaps the exact antithesis of the blond-haired woman’s, carrying no sense of regality, but instead a surprising sense of familiarity, as though she had known him for all of her life.

“Contract established! I look forward to fighting by your side, my dear Master!”

“…”

Yet even though he gave them the answer they clearly wished to, or perhaps expected to hear, the two women before him were clearly dumbstruck at something else.

Silence covered the room as the two women slowly turned to face each other, their eyes betraying shock and confusion that Mihara would have least expected either to see.

His confusion at the situation grew even worse as unexpected pain then wrecked his body, causing him to double over with a gasp.

As though an iron poker had been pressed hard onto them, a pulsing, burning red mark embedded themselves onto the back of both his hands. And although physically he saw them appear only there, the jolting pain he felt was spread throughout the entirety of his body, as though electricity was sent coursing through his nervous system, activating something within him...

Yet as quickly as the pain appeared, it subsided, leaving only the two deep red, identically-shaped markings on the back of his hands, pulsing ever so slowly, ever so brightly.

The two women noticed this, and their confusion, while still evident, abated somewhat with the appearance of the two marks on his hands.

“It seems we will have to live with this… partnership for now then.” The pink haired woman said, sighing almost dejectedly, a complete 180-degree turn from her mood moments before.

“Grr…I suppose there is little choice for me but to accept this situation.” The blond-haired woman said vehemently, quickly recomposing herself as best as possible, though her unease was still somewhat evident.

Regardless of this, they both reached forward and helped Mihara back onto his feet, even though he was still dumbstruck at the two markings that had appeared on his hands, and the two strange women that stood before him.

“Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events.” A disembodied voice cut in after a few moments. “It seems you do have _something_ about you at least then.”

‘ _Oh, its you again I see._ ’ Mihara thought venomously. ‘ _Leave me here to die, then come back as soon as I pique your interest again then eh?_ ’

“In this case, how about we give you another test to prove your worth?” It continued, almost as though it could read Mihara’s thoughts, and was punishing him accordingly.

When it finished speaking, an all-too familiar _creak_ could be heard vibrating around the room as the effigy that Mihara had fought before returned back to life, standing motionless as it were on the side of the room.

But it wasn’t the only one that activated.

From beside the many fallen corpses, over a dozen more effigies rose up from the ground in various states of dismemberment and wreckage. Some were missing an arm; some half their head; and some with a large, gaping hole in their torso. The sight was almost like a zombie army of the fallen corpses that Mihara was about to join, attempting to drag him back to the land of the dead.

By instinct, Mihara’s body immediately froze in fear, remembering his painful defeat just a few minutes ago. He couldn’t hope to survive against just one; how was he supposed to survive against this many now?!

“Oh, what a skittish Master I have.” The blond-haired woman said, stepping forward, disregarding the creaking horde before her. “Why are you so flustered?”

“Please Master, if you do not mind, just leave this to us.” The pink-haired woman said, moving forward as well to join her new comrade.

“Though I do not know the combat abilities of this fox, know that with me, victory is all that you will receive, and it is also all that matters!”

In an instant as she finishes her words, an amazingly large sword materialised in her hands, coloured in the exact same, vibrant shade of red that dyed her own clothes. Yet despite its size, she wielded it as if it were no more than a twig in weight to her.

“My blade has been forged as the ultimate instrument! Even the gods themselves can only bow before it: Use it to strike the enemy, Master!”

“Hmph, while I cannot boast such brutal, inelegant strength, know that my powers lie elsewhere, Master.” The pink-haired woman spoke in reply to her companion’s goad.

With a similar effect as with the sword, a mirror materialised from thin air, slowly floating round and around the woman as she moved through a series of elegant acrobatics. The mirror matched her movements almost exactly, and its ornamental styling only served to convey the feeling as if it were but a part of her own body.

“The magic I can use will destroy these wooden toys just as quickly as any blade can slice through them: I will obliterate them from the face of the Earth for you, Master!”

In response to the two women’s goading, three of the less-dismembered effigies rushed forward at the two, who solidly stood their ground between the group and Mihara.

The two stood motionless until the final few steps before the effigies reached them, before MIhara saw a small smirk form on the blond woman’s lips.

“They’re my prey!” She shouted suddenly, before swinging her oversized sword with ease backhanded.

The first strike cleaved right through one effigy’s chest long before it got into striking range. As though it were only paper, its chest was cleaved clean in half, the parts skidding across the room. Not wasting any time, the blood-red sword she wielded spun in her hands to come crashing back down on a second effigy, shattering its head like a nutcracker and slicing it clean in half, no closer to striking her than its earlier partner.

But by the time the second effigy was eliminated, a third was already on top of her, its arm coming down in an attempt to crush her head, just as she had just done to its companion’s moments before!

Just as MIhara was cringing, cursing his lack of ability to help her while waiting for the sick sound of pierced flesh, he heard an unexpected sound: The ringing of steel upon steel.

The blond’s sword, in an impossible feat of speed, had already moved back to block the incoming attack perfectly with the flat of her blade!

“What are you, a statue?!” He heard the blond speak with disdain. As she spoke, MIhara could just barely make out the blur of her sword again as she pushed the effigy backwards effortlessly.

“You can’t hope to entertain me-” She continued while turning towards her left and lashing out with her booted foot.

“With that kind of speed!” As she finished her sentence, the connection was made, and a shower of splinters erupted from the effigy’s chest as it was flung backwards, its entire chestpiece destroyed beyond repair as it clattered backwards helplessly to the ground, completely useless.

‘ _Fast!_ ’ MIhara’s mind thought as he watched in awe as his eyes could just barely keep track of that red blur that was her blade, and her body’s movements. ‘ _Is that humanly possible? To swing such an oversized blade at such blinding speeds to dispatch them so easily? No, that’s not right…These two aren’t human in the first place, are they?_ ’

Just as he finished his thought, he noticed a shadow appear over him. Instinctively he looked up, and wished he hadn’t.

Above him in the air, two effigies had somehow snuck by the two women, targeting him directly. Too focused on the blond’s amazing display, he failed to notice the enemies that were already on top of him. And paralyzed by fear, his body refused to roll out of the way even as their falling bodies threatened to crush him

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my Master!” A voice Mihara recognised as the foxgirl’s shocked him out of his paralysis at the last moment. Inches above him, he saw a flash of silver dart at the effigies, slicing both their necks and dislocating their heads completely from the body, a shower of splinters raining down upon the ground beneath it.

But it seemed the attack wasn’t done, before at least another twenty more slices by the strange silver light was dealt to each effigy, still in mid-air above MIhara helpless. And moments later, what was supposed to be two bodies came littering down around MIhara as small, harmless, unrecognisable wooden blocks!

One of the disembodied heads, still vaguely circular, _thudded_ against the ground and began rolling along, helpless. As Mihara watched it roll, he saw the foxgirl step on it, before bending down and fixing it with an accusing glare.

“That’s what you get for trying something so sneaky as to hurt my Master behind my back!” She scolded. It was an almost comical sight, if it had happened in isolation of the ridiculous speed she had demonstrated in slicing it up mere seconds ago. Behind her, her mirror floated lazily around in the air, the weapon Mihara presumed to be the silver light that had done the attack.

‘ _That was even faster than the blond’s sword!_ ’ Mihara could do nothing but stare at the two women who had dismissed these effigies so effortlessly. And when he compared it to his pathetic attempt at survival only minutes ago, he could only cringe and curse his helplessness and weakness.

“I hope you are not thinking something pointless as to why you are so helpless, Master.” The blond said as though reading her mind, sighing as she turned to him with the remains of the three effigies behind her. “You should know by now that you cannot hope to compete on the same level playing field as us: We servants are naturally far, far stronger than you could ever hope to become.”

“I…I have no excuse.” He muttered as he hung his head in defeat. “But I still-” His eyes darted open as another effigy came charging forward from behind the blond, still facing towards him! “Behind you!”

“I know already.” She smirked again, before spinning her sword in front of her and jabbing it backwards without even looking, again with the same speed she had demonstrated before.

She had timed it perfectly; just as the effigy was mere inches away from running her through, her red blade swung out like a battering ram, impaling the effigy’s chest and stopping its advance. The next moment, she had tugged her blade out of the wooden doll, swinging it and her body around to cleave the enemy clean in two.

‘ _Small and powerful…_ ’ He could only gape in amazement as he witnessed her complete confidence in herself and her technique, being able to time and target her attacker without even so much as glancing at it!

“Your job as my Master.” She began as she turned around slowly, the effigy she had just finished off collapsing on the ground as a broken mass of wood. “Is to command us in battle, not to protect us. In fact; the role of protector is our job.” She turned her head to him as she spoke bluntly. “Command us well in battle, and you will be rewarded with both your life intact, as well as the ultimate reward: The Holy Grail.”

‘ _Holy Grail…?_ ’ He could only think in confusion as she outlined their roles so clearly, without any backstory or explanation.

“Oooh; stop taking all of his attention already!” The foxgirl’s energetic voice brought him out of his revelry as she bounced up towards him. “Master; there are still some more enemies left coming at us.”

He turned his head to survey the battlefield. Though he knew not why he was here, why these two women were here, or how did he manage to return from the brink of death, he knew at least what he was supposed to do now.

“At least 15 more effigies are still standing.” He muttered under his breath as the blond stepped back towards the two. “Eight of them have sustained severe damage to their limbs and were unable to attack with the same speed as the last six. The remainder are likely waiting for the correct time to attack.” Indeed, he had counted correctly; 15 effigies were still standing, with seven of them shambling slowly towards the three; their speed not even nearly as high as the last six. The remaining eight were standing watch, their featureless, mangled bodies watching ominously for the right time to charge in.

“I have downed four to your two, fox.” The blond smirked as she heard him. “You cannot hope to win this contest unless you pick up your game.”

“Oho…” The foxgirl sighed in disdain. “Ho, ho ho…That’s because I haven’t even used 5 % of my power yet!”

With her declaration uttered, she leapt forwards, somersaulting in the air once and landing directly between the three and the shambling army. Her geta shoes _clopping_ on the mosaic ground just as her mirror floated lazily around her, she began chanting a single verse. As she finished, she held out her right hand as a spark of light appeared and disappeared, mere moments after each other. Mihara winced slightly at the sudden spark, before noticing that her empty hand now held a small slip of paper.

‘ _Is that…A charm?_ ’ He thought to himself as he tried to analyse it. ’ _I can’t read anything on it from here…_ ’

“Let me show you just a bit of my power!” She cried gleefully as she brought the charm to her left cheek for a moment, before throwing it directly at the shambling mass of effigies coming towards them.

Mihara had expected the paper to flop in the air, unable to be thrown any distance due to air currents. But to his surprise, the small charm flew forward like an arrow, landing straight in the middle of the shambling mass, which pointedly ignored it.

Mihara knew this was a mistake, his senses suddenly prickling as he felt an aura of power gather around the charm mere moments as it hit the floor.

The next moment, he saw a strange orange circle expand at a rapid pace to completely surround the seven effigies, who were still on the approach. And just as it did, streams of fire erupted from the ground, as though a volcano had suddenly erupted from beneath them, engulfing the effigies in a bright column of fire that reached straight up into the blue, ocean-like sky. The roar it emitted, alongside the powerful heat MIhara felt standing a fair distance away, made him cringe.

In a few moments after the spectacle began, it was already over, the plume of fire dying down as the area that was engulfed was finally revealed.

The ground, for some reason or another, stood unharmed. It was as if the attack had purposely avoided scarring its beauty. The charm however, had disappeared; MIhara could only assume that it was incinerated with the blast. But it wasn’t the only thing to have been incinerated: Not a single trace of the seven effigies stood in their position.

Save a small portion of what could be assumed to be a hand that seemed to have avoided being caught in the blaze, lying helplessly on the floor. Where it was supposed to be joined to its owner, only black char remained.

‘ _…Incredible…_ ’ It was all Mihara could comment. ‘ _Such astounding speed from before, plus this amount of power…this, magic, isn’t it?_ ’ He couldn’t explain it any other way, how such an incinerating flame was summoned to decimate the seven effigies in a mere instant.

“Now that’s my nine to your four, shorty.” The foxgirl smirked as she bounced back to the three with big grin on her face. “You want to admit defeat now? Master’s sure to pick me as his Servant after my brilliant display!”

“Don’t get too cocky, fox.” The blond grinded her teeth in annoyance. “You won’t be able to use such area-of-effect attacks on faster enemies!”

‘ _She’s right…_ ’ MIhara thought to himself as he surveyed the remaining eight effigies. ‘ _The only reason why the foxgirl was able to decimate those seven effigies was because they were moving so slowly; against the remaining eight, who are comparatively still at the peak of their power…Such an attack won’t be able to hit them before they got out of the way. But the blond’s sword can cleave through them one-by-one, even if they’re fast…_ ’

“I ain’t just a one-trick fox, you know!” She cried in indignation. “That was only a small show of what I can bring out; its not like you can swing anything else other than your oversized sword!”

“Well then, let us see how well my blade measures up with you on the last eight then!” The blond readied her blade.

“I’m afraid that will not be possible.” The voice from before spoke out again, unbidden and unexpected. Upon the completion of its words, the remaining eight effigies crumpled back down to the ground, the strings that commanded their limbs cut.

“What?! No!” The blond cried incredulously. “I’m not done yet! I cannot, and will not allow myself to be beaten by this fox!” Desperately, she turned towards Mihara, pointing to the recently-collapsed effigies. “Master, bring them back! Bring them back, I say!!! I have yet to settle the score of this competition!”

‘ _What the heck is she talking about?!_ ’ He couldn’t do anything but shy back helplessly at her desperate attempt to salvage the situation in her favour.

“Just admit defeat already, shorty.” The foxgirl yawned. “It’s as clear as day who is the better Servant between us; and hence who it is Master’ll choose for this Holy Grail War.”

“Impossible!” The blond cried again, pointing accusingly at her rival. “All you did was take out the small fry, and left the hard work for me!” She stopped in her tracks for a moment, before placing her hands on her hips, somewhat in thought as she began to mumble somewhat sulkily. “I’ve been waiting so long for this opportunity too, and yet the first thing I experience is being cheated by a fox in a competition I would have won with certainty…How disappointing…”

“While it pains me to interrupt your little competition, the time to begin the main event you have so longed for is at hand.” The voice spoke out again, just as Mihara felt the marks on his hand ignite in pain again, spreading across his body like a snake’s poison.

“The two markings on your hands are known as Command Seals.” The voice spoke again as Mihara glanced at them, trying to figure out why so much pain was coursing though his body from them.

“Each one is proof that you hold reign over a single Servant: A Legendary Soul whose tale has survived the test of time.” Unbidden, his voice continued to explain the esoteric worth of these two painful markings to Mihara, who forced himself to push aside the pain to listen in as well as he could.

“Each Command Seal you have can be used to give three unequivocal and unbreakable orders to the associated Servant. They are also proof that you have gained successful entry into this Holy Grail War. Should you lose it, or in your unusual case, both of them, you will be disqualified from the Holy Grail War, and die.” Again, the voice speaks of death without a shred of concern for its audience.

Through Mihara’s pain-addled brain, a question formed in his mind based on this observation: ‘ _Who is this disembodied voice exactly?_ ’

“I am honoured that you are interested in my identity.” The voice replied to his unspoken question, as though it were spelled plainly in midair. “But nevertheless, I am insignificant; merely a part of a larger system that manages the Holy Grail War. All I am, is the voice and personality of a previous participant. And all I will do, is relay a standard message to any new participants in turn. A recording, if you will, of the past.”

“So does that mean any objections I voice will fall on deaf ears?” Mihara asked aloud this time, his hands clenched tightly to keep the pain at bay while the two women near him kept silent vigil.

“Exactly right.” The voice replied again. “I have had this duty for a very long time. And frankly, you are the most desperately helpless Master I have seen in my entire tenure. But in the same breath, absurdly clumsy efforts like yours is what makes my position that much more interesting.”

Unable to retort with the pain enveloping his body, Mihara could do nought but grind his teeth as the voice continued.

“I am certain that my fellows will look upon your growth with great interest, young Master.” Though it was meant to be a compliment, it sounded more like a mad scientist interested in their next experiment, rather than the feelings of a person.

“But for now, let us commence your baptism, an honour you have struggled through much to earn.” Apparently satisfied with voicing its opinions on Mihara’s apparently pathetic attempt, the topic was switched, as the voice gained a different air about it. Reverberating throughout this entire theatre, it was as though the voice had been possessed by a God.

“For many, the monotony of everyday life will continue to replay without end. But for you: Your decision to look beyond the accepted; your ability to go beyond what was established, has earned you the right to exist. But as with many things, this is only your first, small step along your journey. So rejoice young knight, the time to prove the full worth of your existence is at hand, as the Holy Grail War begin now!”

‘ _I’ve heard about this ‘Holy Grail War’ for some time now…_ ’ Mihara’s brain thought again, the overpowering force of the voice staying his tongue. ‘ _It couldn’t possibly mean-_ ’

“It is exactly what you believe it to be.” The voice answered his unbidden, unfinished question again. “It is an object of great power, the only artefact of its kind in existence that could grant any desire. Those who seeked it called it the ‘Holy Grail’, and fought without reservation or pause to gain sole possession of it. This War, this System, that you have entered, is the resultant evolution of those struggles. A fight to the death for a wish that you seek: Out of all magi that have entered, you alone must remain standing at the end.”

‘ _You speak as though the only option for me is to kill._ ’ Mihara thought, content to let his mind be the whiteboard on which to write his concerns.

“Indeed, it is.” The voice replied again, on cue. “All must perish, save you. For above all else: Only one may hold the Grail.” It paused for a moment to le the gravity of its words sink into Mihara, the words ‘ _All must perish_ ’, sinking deeply into his heart.

“The Legendary Souls that stand by your side,” it continued finally. “Are the weapons you command in this War to decimate your enemies. They are the arrow that pierces; the sword that slashes; the shield that protects. Their purpose, is to clear your way to the Holy Grail.”

At those words, Mihara couldn’t help but glance over at the two women that stood silent all this while, watching him side-by-side. In response, the blond gave him a confident smirk, while the foxgirl in turn gave him a beaming smile.

“Now young knight; rest.” The voice spoke again as the ‘Command Seals’ on the back of his hands began burning again, searing across all of his senses which began to shut down in response. “You have endured much to reach this point. And you will have to endure much more to reach your goal.”

“Urgh…” Mihara groaned as he fell down to one knee. Soon after, strength left him as he collapsed onto the ground, his consciousness fading once again, just like it did so often during the last four days.

Just before he sunk into sleep, he heard the final words of the disembodied voice that had narrated his most recent struggles.

* * *

_Now, let the curtains ascend on this Holy Grail War. For no matter the time, and no matter the era, a person’s worth can only be seen through Victory in Battle._

_You Magi that have been invited here by the moon..._

_You Masters that seek the Holy Grail…_

_Show me the worth of your Dreams._

_Show me the strength of your Resolve._

_For what lies at the end of this path, is either Paradise…_

_Or Death._

_Welcome, Brave Knights._

_Welcome, Young Magi._

_Welcome, to the Holy Grail War._


	4. Week 1 Day 1 (Part 1)

** Awakening: Binary Heaven **

* * *

  **Week 1**

**Round 1**

Combatants from Last Checkpoint:                 7,596

 

Preliminary Failures:                                         7,179

Combatants Defaulted on Triggers:                         0

Combatants Slain inside Coliseum:                           0

Combatants Slain outside Coliseum:                        0

 

Total Combatant Casualties:                             7,179

 

**Combatants remaining:                                       417**

* * *

  **Act 1: Scene 1**

**6 Days Remaining**

**_Morning_ **

* * *

It was all Mihara could see as he awoke; a city bathed in flames as black clouds of soot and ash tainted the sky. The vision before him could only be described as chaos: Broken husks of buildings littered the ground, the distinctive flesh of corpses emerging at random through the carnage. Wreckage as far as the eye could see surrounded him; yet for some reason he himself stood alone, untouched.

‘ _A… nightmare?_ ’ He thought to himself as he surveyed his surroundings. ‘ _The only reasonable explanation I guess_.’ It was at this point, a garbled, unrecognisable voice spoke out, echoing across the destruction surrounding him.

“A lone man in hell, I had survived.” The voice began, detached from the surroundings as though it were a narrator. “This oblivion, is both Salvation, and Sin. This oblivion, is where I was born.”

‘ _Where I was born…?_ ’ Mihara asked himself. Certainly, despite the unrecognisably scarred cityscape, the place tugged on his heartstrings, as though it were the wreckage of a childhood home that he could not remember. But despite his thoughts, the voice continued unabated, the rising resentment, confusion and hatred clear within it.

“Lives around me, fading without a thought: Strangers, Friends, Families. All destroyed; all gone. The soldiers that came, the guns they wielded. The families they killed, the inhabitants of this city. Though this grotesque struggle continues upon the stage of this broken city, the peace known as death will come to claim all one day.” The voice stopped for a moment, as though allowing for his words to sink in, an opportunity that Mihara picked up.

‘ _Cryptic, and confusing…_ ’ Mihara thought as he attempted to digest the words that he heard, his eyes still scanning the landscape, before he felt a drop of water hit his head. ‘ _Rain?_ ’ He thought, as he moved his hand to check the site of impact. And as though to draw his attention away, the voice began speaking once again.

“Though death comes, I could not accept the carnage that preceded it.” The voice continued as Mihara felt the cold water begin coming down. “Why? I asked. Why, did such a tragedy occur? Why, did it decide to inflict itself upon a city of innocents?”

"But the biggest why of all: Why has the Earth I had lived in so peacefully before, now turned into a Hell that I would wish upon no-one."

As the voice finished speaking, the rain began growing in intensity, as Mihara stood, still alone, still watching as the rain drenched the fires that plagued this broken landscape.

‘ _Why, huh_ …’ Was all he could think of, as the words of this detached narrator continued to reverberate in his mind.

As the rain drenched his surroundings and washed away the vestiges of what once populated this city, Mihara saw a single, small movement through the rubble. But he could not move; Mihara’s body, trapped in this dream, refused to move forward to investigate. All he could do, was listen to the cryptic voice as it began speaking again.

“This hopelessness and despair…” The voice began once again, “Begets only rage and regret. I could not, and will not, accept what I had been shown.”

The movement occurred again; and what Mihara could discern as a small hand, poked out amidst the rubble.

“But even so, there are no second chances. No matter how hard I wished for life, no matter how hard I wished to undo the tragedy that befouled my home, what has been done, cannot be undone.”

The hand Mihara could see poking through the debris, so small and weak in comparison to the carnage that surrounded it, clenched itself into a tiny fist, before collapsing back onto the rubble, as the rain continued to pelt it unerringly.

And as quickly as Mihara entered this dream, he was taken out, his vision falling black mere moments after the hand he was so intently observing ceased moving.

But the voice that had been speaking within the chaos still had a few more parting words to say.

“Never forget: I was born from perdition… What that means-“

“Somehow, please do not forget.”

* * *

He opened his eyes in shock as he laid flat, his breathing heavy as he still remembered the dream that he had emerged from.

“A dream…” He muttered as he remembered the hand that poked out from the rubble. “A very cryptic, confusing dream at that…” Wearily, he rubbed his eyes, as though trying to erase it from his mind. Once he felt he had calmed down a bit, he sat up and began taking in his surroundings.

He was in a small rectangular room that sported with a single open window, bathing the room in crisp morning light. The bed that he was sat in was sequestered into a corner away from the window. On the opposite side of the room stood a table that spanned the entirety of the wall, a single computer and a number of books pushed up to the wall on opposing sides. The wooden brown floor gave off a pleasantly comforting smell of cedar that soothed Mihara’s rattled mind.

‘ _This… is my room?_ ’ He questioned himself. ‘ _Wait, how can that be, I can’t even remember how my room looked like in the first place-_ ’ His eyes shot open as this seemingly idle thought hit him, with the events of the past four days suddenly flooding his mind, erasing any memory he had of the cryptic dream he had just emerged from.

“Yes, the past four days, the repeating school…” He began muttering to himself, recounting the events one by one as he kicked his feet out from under the covers. “The strange room, my classmate, the effigy, and then those two ‘Servants’…”

“It seems that you’ve finally decided to wake up, Master.” A voice said, knocking him out of his recollections as he saw two familiar figures materialise in the middle of the room.

Instinctively he glanced down to check that he was wearing something appropriate. To his surprise, he had gone to sleep still in his school uniform for some unknown reason.

‘ _Well, it wouldn’t exactly be right to call that place a school in the first place though…_ ’ The thought cropped up, before he turned back to look at the two figures before him.

The two were unmistakeable, with the same swirling aura around them and their almost outlandish styles of dress. The two that had claimed to be his ‘Servants’, and also the same two that had defeated a veritable army of effigies without even breaking a sweat.

Come to think of it, he hadn't actually had a good chance to look at these two women's faces before; all he saw in that strange underwater hall was their backs, and fleeting glimpses of their faces during that climactic battle with the effigies.

' _Hold on..._ ' He thought to himself as he looked at the two, the dress style of one of them catching his attention. ' _I didn't notice it before, but the blond's skirt... it's translucent at the front?! I can clearly see it!_ ' His hands instinctively moved to cover his eyes, but for fear of embarrassing himself he managed to catch himself in time just as they jerked up from the bed.

' _Damnit, what's with this?_ ' His mind muttered. ' _Come on, calm down, just ignore it for now... ignore it..._ ' He kept repeating the phrase to himself as he forced his eyes to go back to the two women's faces just as the person in question began speaking.

"Well, I suppose there really is no limit to feebleness." The blond began, her voice carrying a confusing mix of endearment and chastisement. "While you were asleep, we had naught to do but stare at your face."

"But at least you are awake now though, dear Master." The foxgirl by her side said as she almost literally bounced forward to the side of the bed. "Welcome to the Holy Grail War!" Clearly, neither had noticed the sudden jerk of his hands from before.

"Holy Grail… War?" Mihara queried, his mind beginning to gather the information from before he had blacked out, completely overriding his concerns about the blond's translucent dress.

“Yes, yes, the Holy Grail War.” The blond continued, placing a hand on her hips as she spoke. “You do know what it entails, right?” Her lower jaw almost dropped open in amazement as she saw Mihara shake his head slowly from left to right in denial.

“You know nothing of the Holy Grail War, and yet somehow became a Master?!” She almost shouted, incredulously.

“Eh, well maybe he’s just forgotten it.” The foxgirl said, her face also the epitome of disbelief. “You were asleep for so long that your memory might still be fuzzy, even with the restoration process having been completed.”

“I suppose there is no helping it.” The blond said, sighing. “We shall instruct you as we are able then.”

“T-Thank you for understanding.” Mihara stuttered, still disorientated as he bobbed his head sheepishly in a makeshift bow form his position. He took a moment to clear his mind of everything else for now, so that he may focus on the information currently being given to him.

“Firstly, the Holy Grail.” The blond began, seemingly satisfied. “It is said to have held the blood of a saviour, and has the power to grant any wish.”

“Wait, wait…” Mihara interrupted incredulously. “Holy Grail, as in, THAT Holy Grail?! The Holy Relic spoken of within the Arthurian Legends?”

“Yes, correct Master!” The foxgirl exclaimed jubilantly. “Although, even though it’s called the Holy Grail, there’s no way it could be the real thing after so long since its discovery. Uh, but don’t worry about that; it can still grant wishes like the original!”

“In any case,” The blond continued, realigning the discussion. “The Holy Grail War is-“

“A ceremony performed by Magi in an attempt to decide who is worthy of possessing the artefact?” Mihara piqued, the thought suddenly emerging from the mire of his brain.

“…Surprisingly, it seems as though you do know of it.” The blond said sarcastically, apparently not too pleased at being interrupted again.

“Sorry, uh…” Mihara began again, scratching his head awkwardly. “It seems as though my memory is still a bit foggy, and just needs a bit of refreshing.”

“Well, what else can you remember now then, Master?” The foxgirl picked up, salvaging the situation.

“Well…” He thought, placing a hand on his chin as he began sifting through his slowly emerging memories, before he began speaking. “The Holy Grail War was originally a fight to the death between 7 magi, with the last person standing being granted the honour of making a wish upon the Holy Grail.”

“Correct on all counts, but that was the original; what about the current War?” The blond asked, suddenly turning into an examiner.

“The current…” Mihara sunk back into his thoughts to pick up the pieces, before he cautiously began speaking. “The current Holy Grail War consists of a tournament-style fight to the death solely between two magi, somewhat like the original War. The loser is… killed, while the victor is allowed to move on to the next round, until a single combatant is left standing.”

“Correct.” The blond said, smiling. “It seems as though you are not completely incompetent after all.”

“Just as I expected of Master!” The foxgirl said, smiling. “But it seems as though your memories are foggy as I had guessed.”

‘ _…What the hell have I gotten into?_ ’ He thought frantically. Even though he knew about this ‘Holy Grail War’, he did not enjoy the knowledge that it was, by the sounds of it, a fight to the death.

‘ _I… I almost died back there, I can remember it as clearly as day…If I lose this at any point, I’ll die, won’t I? I’ll have to… kill… others, don’t I?_ ’ He sighed slightly at the thought, shaking his head vigorously. ‘ _I don’t want anything to do with this… But if that’s the case, then how am I supposed to quit from this horrible-sounding bloodbath? Can I even quit in the first place now?_ ’ The outlandish situation he had landed himself in made it difficult for him to accept the facts, even though he had just recited them from his own mouth.

“Then it seems that the best course of action is to properly refresh all of your memories from scratch.” The blond said, interrupting his thoughts as she turned serious. “How much do you remember about Servants then?”

“Servants…” He began as he sunk back into thought for a few moments, before speaking what he could recall, as dubious as the source may be. “Servants are… incarnations, of Legendary Souls that had existed over the course of Earth’s history. They are drawn by Magi to aid them in the fight during the Holy Grail War. Only a select portion of all the people who has lived on Earth can classify as a Legendary Soul, the base criteria being that the actions the person had carried out in life continuing to have an effect on many people centuries after their death…”

“Correct again, as expected of Master! Although, your answer is missing a little bit.” The foxgirl said, before continuing. “According to the original Holy Grail War, and also this current War, the Servants are drawn from seven distinct archetypes, or ‘classes’ if you will: Saber; Archer; Lancer; Rider; Berserker; Assassin; and last but not least, Caster!”

“Well, only the Saber class matters the most out of any of them.” The blond said, smirking. “As the fox said, the classes are models, with a set number of skills common to each archetype. Knowing another Servant’s class will likely give you clues about their skills and abilities.”

“I myself am firmly ensconced in the Caster Class, Master!” The foxgirl said, ignoring the blond’s clear disdain at the remaining six classes. “My speciality is with long-ranged magic attacks.”

“And I…” The blond began, before a smile began forming on her face. “Well, let me test your observation skills: What class do you believe I belong to?”

“Hmm…” Mihara began as he sifted through his memories again, recalling what he could.

‘ _She wielded a sword back during the fight with the effigies for one thing._ ’ He though to himself. ‘ _She herself said that classes gave a hint to their abilities and skills, so Saber is probably the answer…Although knowing she wielded a sword is not enough…Then again, her contempt for the other classes seems fairly palpable…_ ’

“Saber, isn’t it?” He said finally after a few moments of deliberation.

“Excellent.” The blond said, clearly elated. “As the Saber class is the best class out of the seven, it is obvious I belong to the Saber class.”

“Already getting full of yourself then, huh, shorty?” The foxgirl said sarcastically.

“Well compared to Casters, Sabers are both far more powerful and more direct in their tactics.” The blond replied with pride.

“You mean you bulldoze through everything with brute force, then yes.” The foxgirl retorted. “Your height must be giving you confidence issues that you need to make up with your strength.”

“I do not just use ‘brute force’, you fox!” The blond shouted back. “My fights are an art form! Every strike of my blade is a beautiful stroke on the canvas that is the battlefield! Why, even the greatest artisans would feel privileged to see my elegant fights, if only for a moment!”

‘ _Saber… and Caster, huh?_ ’ Mihara thought, his mind almost zoning out the two’s bickering of their classes as he attempted to take in this knowledge. ‘ _Saber’s personality seems a bit hard to get a handle on, although her abilities in battle are unquestionable. But on the other hand… Caster’s personality is almost a 180 degree turn, though her fighting style I guess will need a bit of ingenuity to use well... hold on._ ’ His thoughts were interrupted by something that they had discussed about Servants just a few moments before.

“All Legendary Souls created by the Holy Grail are based of real people from History, isn’t it?” Mihara spoke, interrupting the verbal fight between the two.

“Ahem, yes, Master.” The blond replied curtly as she straightened herself.

“Are you interested in knowing our True Names, Master?” The foxgirl asked, as Mihara nodded in reply.

“Well, I have nothing embarrassing to hide about my life, and I would happily tell you…” The blond began, before narrowing her eyes slightly. “But it’d be a complete disaster should you mistakenly reveal my name to our enemies before it’s time.”

“I… Suppose that is true.” Mihara conceded, rubbing his chin.

“Well, regardless if my name is known or not, my abilities in a fight will not waver the slightest: I will tell it to you once I learn a bit more about you. In the meantime, you may refer to me by my class, Saber. It will be more than sufficient for the time being.”

“As for me, I’m really just a minor footnote in history, Master.” The foxgirl began after Saber had finished speaking, waving her hand in dismissal. “Just call me by my class, Caster, like Saber; that way our enemies won’t know about our identities too easily.”

“Then let me introduce myself properly then.” Mihara couldn’t help but stay silent. “My name’s Mihara. Mihara Hakuno; I look forward to working together with you two.”

“It’s good to be working with you too, Master!” Caster’s bubbly voice replied, before darkening as she whispered into his ear from the side of the bed as she stood. “Although, I still wish it were only us two; we could just ditch shorty here somewhere.”

“I hope that fighting alongside you will entertain me at the very least.” Saber continued after Caster finished, pointedly ignoring her scheming. “I believe that this should be enough to cover the basics. For now though, I believe that you should answer the person at the door.”

“Door?” Mihara asked, confused. But before he could finish, his two Servants had already disappeared from view, fading as quickly as they had appeared before. But even though their corporeal forms had disappeared, he could sense their distinctive presence hanging around him.

‘ _Probably to prevent people from seeing them, and possibly deducing their names…_ ’ He thought to himself. But before he could think further, a doorbell chime signalled the arrival of a guest, just as his Servants had predicted.

“A visitor?” He asked as he got up on his feet, taking a moment to look himself over again to check if he was presentable or not. Once that was done, he quickly exited the room and headed for the entrance, just as a thought struck him.

‘ _Wait; I’ve never seen this house, nor its interior before, yet why the hell do I know it like the back of my hand?!’_ A vaguely T-shaped floorplan came to mind as he visualised the layout of the house. ‘ _And that’s not all I shouldn’t know…_ ’ As his thoughts ticked, so did his bare feet move forward, guiding him through a house he cannot remember ever setting foot in.

‘ _The stuff about the Holy Grail War…_ ’ He began counting them off one by one in his mind. ‘ _The Holy Grail that grants wishes… This ‘ceremony’, Its history with seven magi, the knowledge about Servants and Legendary Souls… I don’t remember being told anything about them, and yet why was I able to recall so much just now? For that matter, why can’t I recall…_ ’ His thoughts paused for a moment, as did his feet, the final thought caught, as though he couldn’t force himself to believe it.

‘ _Why can’t I recall anything before the past four days?_ ’

He blinked several times in shock at the realisation, his body frozen in place as he tried to probe every crevice of his mind to disprove the disturbing fact he had unveiled.

He didn’t have long to try, for soon after the doorbell rang again, pulling him back to reality and the fact that he had a visitor.

“I can’t keep them waiting…” He muttered to himself, forcing the disturbing thought from his mind for now as he made his way through this unknown, yet familiar house.

“Sorry for taking so long.” He said calmly as he opened the door to look at the visitor, trying to cover his previous discomfort from showing on his face.

“Hello Mihara.” An unmistakeably calm voice replied to his greeting. “I’m glad to see that you’re up and about now.”

The speaker happened to be Sakura Matou, the school nurse. Her long, unusual purple hair reached all the way down to her ankles as a pair of clear, amethyst-coloured eyes looked at him. Still dressed in the characteristic brown uniform of female Tsukumihara Academy students, the white labcoat that was draped around her shoulders singled her out from many other people in the surroundings. And slung around her shoulders was a plain brown tote bag, a bit too small to hold much more than a few A5-sized pads of paper.

“It’s you, that malfunctioning robot girl!” Mihara almost shouted in shock at her appearance, before almost slamming the door shut.

“Wait, please, I-I can explain!” She began, reaching out her arm to stop him from slamming the door shut in her face.

“Explain what exactly?!” He replied incredulously, keeping the door open via a very small crack.

“I’m very sorry for surprising you like that during the preliminaries, Mihara Hakuno.” She began, bowing. “As an NPC created by the SE.RA.PH, I was under strict command not to give preliminary participants any clues as to the nature of this virtual world. Seeing my disturbing change in act must have disorientated you greatly, especially so close to the end of the preliminaries.”

“SERAPH?” He spoke, more of a query than a confirmation as he opened the door again slightly. “Virtual World? Preliminaries?”

“Oh dear, you don’t remember?” She asked, cocking her head to the side as she blinked, almost as though the situation had nothing to do with her.

“Yes…” He began, uncertain as to whether this should be something he should be saying out loud. “I, uh… Don’t remember anything from before the last four days.”

“It appears that the memory restoration has failed for you, Mihara.” She answered him bluntly after a pause. “Before the Masters enter the Preliminaries for the Holy Grail War, all of your memories are wiped. This ensures that only the best of the best magi may enter the Holy Grail War. Once the preliminaries are over, the memories are returned to the successful participants.”

“So do you have any idea what I could do about it?” He asked her, a little bit perturbed at her disconnection from his situation.

“I…” She began, her face still remaining the same as before. “No, I am afraid I am only an NPC; I am not given a high enough permission level to decide on such things.” Strength left almost all of Mihara’s muscles as he heard her inability to help.

“However, there is someone that may have a high enough level…” She continued, Mihara’s mood taking an almost 180 degree turn as he heard this. “Father Kotomine is the overseer NPC of this Holy Grail War; he may be able to help you out more.”

“Thank you very much!” He almost leapt in joy at hearing that there could be an answer to his worries. “Where can I find him?”

“He should be visiting other Masters right about now, doing the same as I.” She answered bluntly again. “But he should be returning to the school campus at about one o’clock this afternoon, you can come and see him then.”

“Thank you very much again.” Mihara said, bowing in thanks. “Is there anything else you could tell me about this place for now?”

“Well…” Despite the lack of any emotion she had displayed until now, Mihara thought he could sense a slight amount of uncertainty at his request for further help.

But eventually she spoke, although her words sounded slightly more of a reassurance to herself than an actual answer. “As all Masters are given the right to ask any queries about the surroundings, I am allowed to put off my duties temporarily to answer your questions.”

“Then, may I ask you to join me over some tea to discuss things?” He asked again as manners seemingly ingrained into him took over, pushing away his initial scepticism while he made way for her to enter.

“Thank you very much then.” She said, bowing as she ended up accepting his offer anyway.

‘ _I suppose at the end of the day she really is a computer programme._ ’ He thought to himself wryly as he saw her through the door, remembering the little ‘incident’ he had to deal with just before the end of the preliminaries.

* * *

Sakura sat quietly at the table on the floor, her knees folded beneath her alongside her purple hair splayed around it as Mihara returned, two cups of tea in his hands.

“Please, its chilled barley tea.” He spoke as he too sat down at the opposite side of the table, passing one cup to his guest as he set his own down before him.

“Thank you very much.” She said as she took the cup from him. “Although as NPCs, we don’t really need nourishment like this… That also applies to you as Masters, really.”

“How does that work, exactly” Mihara asked tentatively, deciding it was a good a place as any to start with his questions.

“As I told you earlier,” she began, sipping from her cup gently even though she just said she didn’t need any. “This world is completely virtual, meaning that your body isn’t actually here. Think of it as a sort of ‘out of body experience’ that your mind is having, but not your body.” He nodded in confirmation as he made a mental note of this.

“However, even though your actual body isn’t here, and only your consciousness is, that doesn’t mean that you can die as many times as you like.” A sour memory of the near-death experience he had from before at the hands of the effigy surfaced in his mind at her words. “If your consciousness dies due to wounds, that leaves your body as an empty shell left on Earth, the real world.” Again, he nodded grimly in confirmation before she continued.

“And also, the fact that it is only your consciousness here means that you don’t actually need any food to survive in this world.” She continued, linking the issues neatly. “Your body is likely preserved somewhere while your mind is here in this virtual world: You are more than capable of surviving here without eating or sleeping for the entire duration of the War without dying of starvation or the like.” She paused for a moment to let this information sink in as she took another drink from her cup, before continuing.

“This virtual world is populated by a variety of NPCs like me.” She continued finally. “We do not need sleep, food or drink like you Masters. But as a number of us exist to bring a sense of life to this virtual world, we will undergo such needs as per a normal human.”

“Wait, so does that mean I am currently in a virtual town?” He asked, cutting into her explanation at a suitable time.

“Yes; this virtual world is a small town that the SERAPH has generated.” She began. “The school, and this house that has been given to you, are all only a little part of the virtual world that will play host to the Holy Grail War.”

“The… SERAPH, was it?” He asked, again cutting into her explanation.

“Yes, that is the name given to this virtual world and all the NPCs within it.” She replied simply.

“Alright, and are other… Masters given houses like this?” He queried again as he continued to make mental notes.

“Yes, every Master is given a private residence of sorts within the town… Oh, yes.” Sakura began, before rummaging in the brown bag that she had brought with her. “Before I forget, please take this.” She fished out what seemed like a small, standalone computer screen, before handing it over to Mihara.

“This is your portable Terminal. The SERAPH will use it to send you information, and you can use it to contact other Masters should you feel the need to do so. It also stores any potentially vital information that you may come across, as well as a map of the virtual world.”

“Thank you very much.” He said as he accepted the item, before touching the screen carefully. “What does this have to do with the private residences Masters are given?”

“Your portable Terminal acts as a form of personal ID.” Sakura began as the screen started up, showing a full-body picture of Mihara in his ever-recognisable brown uniform. “There are several access points that are scattered around the town; each access point has a single ‘entrance’ that leads to distinct ‘residences’ tied in directly with each Master’s profile. To access your personal residence, you will need to find an access point, and hold the Terminal up to a control panel at the entrance. If you leave this house, you will see what I mean.”

“Thank you very much, I’ll have a look at that later.” Mihara said, thanking her again as he put away the terminal.

“The school that you were attending for the preliminaries,” she continued again as he finished. “Will act as the main staging point for the Holy Grail War, with almost everywhere else being part of the scenery.”

“That… seems a bit pointless.” He muttered softly so as not to let her overhear as he continued to listen, before posing another question that had been bugging him. “Sakura, do you think you could explain to me a bit about the exact rules covering the Holy Grail War? Because I seem to have a slight… irregularity it seems with my Servants.”

He was referring to the fact that he had managed to summon two Servants during the preliminary period. Even to a completely clueless novice like him, new to the Holy Grail War, it just seemed completely wrong for a single Master to be able to summon two servants.

” I…” Her voice trailed off slightly before picking up again. “No, if you wish for more information, please come to the school later and talk to Father Kotomine, the supervisor. I am sorry, but it seems that I have run out of time to spare, and must continue on with my duties.” Sakura began suddenly as she placed her almost empty cup on the table before standing up.

“Oh, alright, sorry for taking up your time to answer my questions…” Mihara apologised as he too stood up. “Thank you very much for explaining so much to me.” He said, bowing briefly before leading his guest out of the kitchen and towards the entrance.

“Please, do not worry about it.” Sakura smiled gently as she followed him. “As NPCs, we are programmed to answer any questions you may have, and help in any way that does not break the rules of the Holy Grail War.”

“Still, I appreciate you taking the time to tell me this information.” Mihara continued to thank her as they reached the entrance.

“Well, I wish you luck in the Holy Grail War, Mihara.” Sakura spoke as she finished putting on her shoes, standing up and stepping out into the garden, before turning back to him one more time. “There have been a surprisingly large number of successful Masters this year, so I’m certain that your skills will be put to the test. I recommend that you come and visit the school for more information; the other Masters should also be gathering there today.”

“Thank you for your well-wishes, Sakura.” He bowed, his departing guest following suit, before she turned around and left through the gates.

Just before she did, she turned around again before speaking.

“Oh… Another thing…” She called out, somewhat hesitantly. “Umm… I’m glad… That you managed to make it through the preliminaries. It’s a shame that your friend… didn’t manage to make it…”

“My friend?” Mihara queried, before his eyes shot open in realisation. “Wait, what about him?!” He called out, far too late as Sakura’s figure stepped outside the gates of his ‘home’, dissolving into thin air as she did so.

“It seems like your memory needs a lot more work than I could have expected, Master.” Saber’s distinctive, disembodied voice echoed as Sakura’s figure disappeared from view entirely.

“It seems I’m in a bit of trouble about it, huh?” Mihara sighed, pushing thoughts about his friend from the preliminary period out of his mind. Instinctively, his eyes scanned around to look for her figure, even as doubts slowly ate at his mind at the uncomfortable facts and questions lined up before him.

“Well I’m sure you can get by just fine for now without them!” Caster’s perky voice echoed reassuringly. “I hope that you got everything that Sakura girl told you, yes Master?” Her voice held an almost unrecognisable tone of disdain at her last few words.

“Yeah, I think I got most of that…” He replied, ignoring the slight tint in her voice.

‘ _But then again I didn’t get a chance to ask her why the hell am I able to remember some things about the Holy Grail War, yet cannot remember much else anything_ …’ He thought to himself as he placed a hand on his chin.

“For now, it seems that the best course of action for today would be to see this ‘Father Kotomine’.” Saber spoke. “It seems he may be able to help you out somewhat with your predicament, Master.”

“And we probably better visit the arena too, Master.” Caster cut in.

“Arena?” Mihara asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, we’ll get to that once we get there; it should be somewhere in that school-place.” Caster continued.

“So for the time being, what should be our plan of action, Master?” Saber spoke again. “We have until about one this afternoon before we can see this ‘Father Kotomine’.”

“And the first question you should be asking him is why this Midget here was summoned along with me.” Caster added, clearly none too happy about that fact.

“A better question is why has this vixen been summoned alongside me.” Saber retorted, clearly sharing her colleague’s distaste for the other. “It would be wise for Master to ditch this second-rate class as quickly as possible; Sabers are all you will need to succeed in this War.”

“It’s not my fault I was drawn into the Caster class!” Caster’s shrill voice echoed in the empty garden, Mihara unable to do anything but listen to the two women’s grievances. “If I had a choice, I would be drawn into the Saber class as well! And anyway, it’s not like you Sabers can do anything about an enemy bombarding you from afar!”

“Tch.” Saber clicked her tongue. “We only engage in honourable fights, such cowardly acts and trickery you Casters are known to perform are just beneath us entirely.”

“...” Caster was silent for a moment, as Mihara suddenly felt the air in the surrounding area grow cold, a chill crawling up his spine as he feared the worst.

“WHY YOU!!!” Caster shouted, clearly enraged by Saber’s last dig at her.

“Okay, that’s enough you two!” Mihara shouted to the empty courtyard, afraid that if their argument got even worse, irreparable damage would be inflicted to this place that he would have to call home for now. “I’ll make sure to ask him about this ‘glitch’, and see whether there’s a way of correcting it or not. We’ll go and explore the town half an hour hour from now, then go to the school and see Father Kotomine and settle this…Is that alright?” Though he wanted it to seem as though there was no room for argument, he just couldn’t stop himself from adding the last three words to his statement.

“If Master asks for it, I’m fine with it too.” Caster confirmed, apparently having shoved Saber’s words out of her mind.

“I suppose it will be an adequate distraction for now.” Saber replied in her own way.

“Alright, we leave in half an hour’s time.” Mihara confirmed one more time. “I’ll be…familiarising myself with this…home away from home, I suppose.” He took one last look at the front side of the house, before turning around to re-enter the house as he felt his two Servants following close behind him.

* * *

The next few hours saw Mihara walking around the city and identifying some of the more important buildings, using the map from within his Terminal as a guide. This happened to include some shopping centres scattered around; for while he knows full well his ‘digital body’ doesn’t need food or basic necessities, it just felt too odd for him as a human _not_ to have them. At the very least, a single meal would be more than enough to remind him.

It was quite peculiar experience; the store clerks, just like Sakura Matou said previously, were all NPCs, and were also fully aware of the Holy Grail War and Masters. When he decided to buy some basic ingredients for several days’ worth of meals for himself and his Servants - presuming they wanted or needed to eat of course - the clerks happily ran him through the process of purchase. It involved a strange currency called ‘PPT’, his terminal acting like a debit card, and the food being automatically teleported to the fridge back in his private residence…

He also happened to pick up some ‘Ether Powder’, which was recommended to him by the store clerk immediately upon being recognised as a Master. He commented that it’ll be very useful for healing my Servants, should they end up suffering damage in the coming battles. And while Mihara would like to avoid such damage being gained in the first place, wounds were probably inevitable, prompting him to buy a small bag of the stuff.

All in all, he had spent almost his entire initial sum of PPT in the transactions, though where he got it from is a question unto itself. If he wanted to keep this up, he’d have to find a way to earn more money sometime soon.

“I keep forgetting that this place is a virtual world….” He couldn’t help but sigh to himself when he exited said store. “The way that all of this is handled, plus how everyone treats this War like its common knowledge… I don’t think I’ll get used to it anytime soon.”

“What I’m surprised at, Master, is that you actually know how to cook.” Caster’s disembodied commented, incredulous. “And here I thought you’ve lost all of your memories somehow.”

“Well, not all of it… Just that almost all of it has disappeared entirely.” He replied, somewhat unsure himself. “I can remember some basics like manners and speech for one thing, and then some more complex things like recipes for cooking. But actual events in my life, people I’ve met, places I’ve went to, none of that comes up.”

“It seems that the most important parts relevant to our current situation are absent however.” Saber’s voice cut in. “I can only hope that something _somewhere_ in that skull of yours will prove useful on the battlefield…” Her voice trailed off as she was struck with a thought. “What will you be preparing tonight, for that matter?”

“Erm…” He rattled his brain for a moment to find the name. “Japanese curry; it’s something simple for me to start off with, and can last for several meals.” For a moment, he thought he saw a person turn and look at them pointedly when he mentioned ‘curry’… But before he had a chance to confirm the face, she had already turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

“Then this should be interesting.” Saber’s voice came again, sounding intrigued. “I have yet to try any foods of the orient. And I would like to try that ‘watermelon’ that clerk was so passionately offering us. I didn’t know a fruit could grow so big: It’s almost as big as my head!”

“It looks like I’ll be playing critic tonight then!” Caster’s voice chimed in happily. “I’d know a thing or two when it comes to Japanese!”

“I’m no entirely sure it belongs in your time period, but be my guest.” Mihara smiled wryly as he processed his Servant’s words.

‘ _Saber’s apparently from outside of Asia… No doubt originally somewhere in Europe, considering her style of dress…_ ’ He thought to himself. ‘ _Caster on the other hand seems to be native to Japan, considering her confidence in critiquing what I’d cook up…_ ’

Hence, the trip continued as such, with Mihara carefully analysing the town and making idle chatter with his Servants. While Caster was more than willing to talk to him, Saber’s aloof attitude was more difficult to get used to, as he had expected before, though he had some success as when discussing food. Regardless, if he was to go through with this ‘tournament’ he would need to at least be on friendly terms with the rest of his team.

And all the while, his two Servants remained invisible throughout the entire trip, so as not to attract any unwanted attention from other Masters, and to prevent their identity from being leaked.

‘ _I’m still surprised at the great lengths that they are willing to go to hide it though…_ ’ He couldn’t help but think to himself during the trip. ‘ _Will just their physical appearance give away so much about their identity? And in the first place, how does knowing a person’s identity alone grant an enemy an advantage?_ ’

Regardless, his trip around the city had ended somewhat successfully, and he now stood at his former school, where his next appointment is supposed to be.

“It feels strange.” Mihara muttered as he stood outside the familiar, yet foreign gates to Tsukumihara Academy.

Although on the surface, it is exactly the same school that Mihara had been attending to for the past four days during the preliminaries, it had a completely different air about it. As though it were a declaration that ‘Everything you knew before was a lie.’

In either case, he was here now where hopefully all his questions will be answered. He took a brief glance at his hands where his Command Seals were supposed to be, refreshing his memory of the past events.

Before he left his ‘house’, he hunted around to find some spare bandages to tie up and hide the seals on the back of his hands. Considering everything he had been through, plus his knowledge of Masters being a supposedly high-value target, he wasn’t willing to take any chances to try and expose himself as a Master.

Though how much worth such an obvious attempt to hide his status will have, in a world where only NPCs or Masters existed, is another matter he wasn’t entirely willing to pay attention to.

“Well, let’s get going then.” He shook his head as he prepared himself mentally for the differences he would find within, before stepping through the front gates, the presence of his Servants following him not too far behind.

‘ _Although, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to find this Father Kotomine…_ ’ He thought to himself as he walked. ‘ _Maybe I could ask one of those NPC’s Sakura talked about… But how do I differentiate those from normal Masters then?_ ’

“Ooh, you’ve managed to get through!” A familiar voice came, interrupting Mihara’s thoughts as he was walking over the courtyard towards the main building.

“Issei.” He responded as he looked towards the owner of the voice, the black-clad Student Council President coming over to greet him.

‘ _No… He wouldn’t be the President anymore after everything’s changed so far…_ ’ Mihara thought with a wiry smile as his ‘friend’ reached him.

“I had a feeling that you’d be able to pass through the preliminaries!” Issei said with a smile, patting Mihara on the back as he did so. “There were a record number of participants in this time, and also a record number of successful entrants to this rendition of the Holy Grail War. Yet somehow you always came up in my mind as a likely candidate from the masses. I assume that you’re more than ready to commence with the Holy Grail War?”

“Well, not exactly…” Mihara began as he put on a crooked smile. “I have a few… problems that I need to discuss with someone who could help.”

“Oh, I see…” Issei spoke, nodding his head. “Well, I as an NPC will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have, as long as it is in the scope of my abilities and clearance levels.”

“Wait, you’re also an NPC, Issei?” Mihara asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Of course;” he replied, matter-of-factly. “All the members of the Student Council are NPCs, along with most of the inhabitants of the town.”

“Oh, that makes sense…” Mihara nodded in understanding. “Black uniforms to distinguish yourself from the other Masters then?”

“Correct, Mihara.” Issei replied, smiling. “I and my colleagues will try to help as we are able if you ask them for anything. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I actually came here looking for Father Kotomine…” Mihara began hesitantly. “It seems that my memory restoration…has failed.”

“Now that is really serious!” Issei responded, his eyes widening in shock. “I’m not entirely sure as to how much Father Kotomine will be able to help you resolve that problem, as it may mean that we NPCs must modify a Master’s information.”

“What does that mean exactly…?” Mihara asked, his hopes slowly sinking.

“Well, we as NPCs are the ‘custodians’ of the Holy Grail War.” Issei began. “As such, our prime directive is to not interfere, cooperate, or otherwise help any Master in the Holy Grail War gain an advantage, or disadvantage, as the case may be. Keeping the scales even, so to speak.”

“How… does this have to do with my memories?” Mihara asked.

“Well, in order for us to try and restore your memories, we will have to interact directly with your files.” Issei answered simply. “Even though our intention may be to help you regain your memories to put you on even ground with other Masters, most of us NPCs are not permitted to even touch your files, let alone change them. Just touching a Master’s files requires a very high clearance level only given to a select few, like Father Kotomine. Such interactions may also be viewed as a breach of our Prime Directive, you see.”

“So… In other words you’re not allowed to change my files as it goes against your programming as NPCs?” Mihara asked, trying to summarise what he heard simply as he rubbed his forehead.

“Exactly.” Issei nodded in confirmation. “I’m afraid that I cannot help you solve that particular issue, as I’m forbidden to do so, and I also do not have a high enough clearance level.”

“I… see…” Mihara said slowly, his hope slowly starting to dwindle.

“Is there anything else that I could help you with in the meantime?” Issei asked, already moving on to the next topic.

“Actually… there seemed to be another problem that arose during the preliminaries…” Mihara began after a brief pause as he tried not to dwell on his inability to regain his memories. “It seems that I had managed to summon… two servants.”

Issei was clearly lost for words as the black-clad NPC, who supposedly knew all the answers, stared at Mihara in complete disbelief.

“You… managed to summon two Servants?” He spoke slowly.

“Yes, that is correct.” Mihara confirmed without hesitating.

“Ah…” Issei nodded several times in silence afterwards as his eyes remained fixed on the man before him as though he were a complete enigma. After an uncomfortable silence, he began speaking again.

“Oh, I see now.” His voice had regained a sense of confidence as he spoke. “Yes, Father Kotomine was actually talking about that earlier: He wanted to speak to you personally about this.”

“So in the end you still can’t help me then?” Mihara looked at him dubiously.

“Well, not directly I guess.” Issei replied, scratching his head in embarrassment. “But, I have been able to contact Father Kotomine to come over and speak with you directly.”

“Oh, as fellow NPCs I suppose that wouldn’t be much of a problem for you would it…” Mihara thought out loud as he tried to process it.

“I’m sorry I can’t really be of much help, Mihara Hakuno.” Issei spoke apologetically, bowing once. “I’m afraid that the problems that you are encountering are far beyond my clearance level to be able to do much to help.”

“No, it’s fine…” Mihara replied, shaking his head with a small smile. “I too would be at a loss of how to help someone if they came to me with the same problems.”

“Well, you can ask him any other questions that you may have once he arrives.” Issei continued as he looked around the field for someone, presumably Father Kotomine. “Once you’re done though, I really recommend that you visit our rooftop. It should help you clear your mind of any worries that you have, at least for now: The view from there is truly beautiful.”

“Alright…” Mihara answered sheepishly, uncertain as to how much a single vista would be able to relieve him of his worries. “I’ll… make sure to have a look after I finish speaking with Father Kotomine.”

“You won’t regret it, Mihara!” The NPC known as Issei Ryuudo tapped him lightly on the back, before noticing a figure walking through the school gates. “Ah, Father Kotomine’s arrived.” He gestured in the approaching man’s direction as Mihara turned to look.

Mihara estimated the heavily-built man to be in his mid-thirties, towering at least six feet in height and very likely more, his slightly long brown hair partially obscuring a pair of dark brown eyes. He wore an open black Bishop’s coat that reached all the way down to his ankles, coupled with black trousers and shoes that contrasted sharply with a dark red leather undershirt showing from beneath. Finishing his appearance as a man of the cloth, was a golden Celtic Knot hung around his neck.

Yet despite his physical appearances and obvious religious alignment, there was an aura about him that was the complete antithesis of what Mihara would have expected from a priest: An aura that he just could not define, let alone put into words.

“Father Kotomine is the head overseer of the Holy Grail War.” Issei spoke after a brief pause. “He should be able to help you with your problems, if he’s willing…”

“If he’s willing?” Mihara asked, puzzled.

“Let’s just say that his personality… is a little bit different to most of the other NPCs here to help you out.”

Before Mihara had the chance to ask further, the man known as Father Kotomine had reached them, his imposing figure and aura making him appear far larger than he actually is.

“Thank you for informing me, Issei.” He began, his deep voice carrying no distinct emotions as he spoke. “Please leave him in my care; I should be able to answer his questions adequately.”

“Thank you very much, Father.” Issei bowed respectfully at him, before giving a quick smile to Mihara, and leaving to welcome another Master that had just arrived at the school gates.

“Greetings, young Master.” Father Kotomine began after a brief pause. “I believe that this is the first time we have spoken to each other directly: Let me personally welcome you to this rendition of the Holy Grail War. Though I am sure you know of my name already, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Kirei Kotomine, but please call me Father Kotomine. I am the NPC assigned the task of supervising this Holy Grail War.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Infodumping ahoy!
> 
> Things will be going a bit slow for the next three or so chapters, get all the background setup and whatnot. Afterwards however we can get into the nitty-gritty, so hopefully I won't bore you until then.
> 
> Will try to update more frequently until the backlog I have runs out as well.


	5. Week 1 Day 1 (Part 2)

**Act 1: Scene 2**

**6 Days Remaining**

**_Afternoon_ **

* * *

 “As of today, you and your fellow magi have been given the honour of fighting in this Holy Grail War.” Father Kotomine continued speaking, apparently a somewhat scripted commentary given to all new participants.

“The Holy Grail War is run as an Elimination Tournament, with the Holy Grail being awarded to the last person left standing. Each ‘round’ of the tournament will consist of six days, with a final seventh day being reserved solely for what is known as the Elimination, or Coliseum Battle. During the six days prior to it, all Masters are advised to find out as much about their designated opponent as possible, so as to make crushing their opponent in the final fight easier. In other words all the participants must kill each other until there is only one left. And it is only then, that the victor is allowed to receive his prize, and return to the real World.”

“Simple enough to understand isn’t it?” He asked as he finished. “Even a baboon should be able to understand such simple rules.”

“Thank you, Father Kotomine.” Mihara replied simply, ignoring the insult entirely, having been conditioned to receiving such snide abuse under Shinji. “But I am afraid that my problems are a bit more complex than that.”

“Yes, as I have been informed by a number of NPCs.” He replied. Raising a hand, he jabbed a finger in the air, summoning a see-through screen to materialise at the position. Leaving it floating, he continued to press several areas on the screen, his face impassive.

‘ _This guy is… really something._ ’ Mihara thought as he waited, shuffling his feet slightly. ‘ _I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel really nervous around him, even though this is the first time we’ve ever met._ ’

“Mihara Hakuno.” Father Kotomine began speaking suddenly, apparently reading off of the screen in front of him. “Quite literally, a ‘Master by Accident’. No memories to speak of, while managing to pull through the Preliminaries at the very last moment, doing perhaps the impossible and summoning Two Servants instead of one.”

Mihara inhaled sharply. Father Kotomine’s position as the supervisor of this Holy Grail War is certainly not one to be trifled with.

“Indeed, the SERAPH, and by extension, the Moon Cell, has taken a particular interest in you.” He nodded, before tapping the screen in front of him again, causing it to shrink and disappear as quickly as it appeared.

“Can you do anything about my situation?” Mihara asked tentatively.

“Which part of your situation exactly?” He asked simply. Now this tactic, Shinji hadn’t desensitized Mihara to, as he suddenly felt his eyelid twitch.

“…Firstly, the bit about me summoning two Servants.” He decided to just go with the flow, and asked him about the first thing on his minds as he felt the two auras behind him slowly grow in intensity.

“Well, that is simple to get around.” He responded. “The SERAPH has already made arrangements to accommodate your, ‘special’ circumstances about that.” Mihara blinked in surprise.

He still didn’t know what the heck the SERAPH actually is yet, let alone any other bit of mumbo-jumbo this man was speaking. Apart from that however, it was obvious that the only logical, or rather simplest means to deal with his situation was to remove one of his Servants; a choice that Mihara knew that he wouldn’t be able to make. Both had been there to save his life,; to be forced to choose which to erase was something he couldn’t bear thinking about.

But Father Kotomine’s words put Mihara at ease: The ‘arrangements’ that had been spoken of, while ambiguous, implied that Mihara wouldn’t be forced to choose between either one. But with that said, he had a slowly growing sense of anxiety as he waited for the conclusion.

“Normally, Masters, and their Servants, are made to fight in a one versus one fight at the end of the six-day preparation period. However, as you are a special case, Mihara Hakuno, the Moon Cell has implemented a special set of rules for your sake.” He gave a small grin, which Mihara couldn’t tell whether it was him being snide or him expressing relief that a solution had been found.

“In your case, the rules have been changed as such: You will fight Two Masters, and their Servants, at the end of the week.”

Mihara was stunned: This was quite literally out of the frying pan and into the fire. He already had a small taste of how much his two Servants grinded against each other, and not to mention this entire deal of fighting at the end of the week. He was literally going 3 versus 4: How was he supposed to prepare for twice the size a normal fight would be, with only half time and resources? And for that matter, that meant he had to kill 4 people at the end of this week, instead of the projected 2…

“…Father Kotomine, is there no other solution available to me?” He asked after a long pause to digest this.

“I am afraid that this has already been set in stone.” He replied matter-of-factly. “There is no other way to reverse this ruling.” Mihara almost let his hand slap his face in exasperation as he felt the auras of his two Servants behind him grow even hotter still at this news: Clearly, they weren’t expecting this. And neither were they very happy about it.

“…It appears that we are stuck with each other for the time being, _Caster._ ” Saber’s voice echoed behind him, somewhat grudgingly as she accepted the ruling after a long pause. Even though her acceptance was portrayed, the way she spat out her colleague’s callsign wasn’t very comforting.

“It appears so, _Saber._ ” Caster’s voice echoed both Saber’s acceptance, and obvious discomfort at working with another Servant. “It’ll be a pleasure working with you.”

“My sentiments exactly.” Saber’s voice replied darkly.

“If you wish to make further queries, please speak now. The right to ask about the rules is given to all.” Father Kotomine spoke again, interrupting Mihara’s thoughts on his Servant’s obvious reluctance to work with each other.

“…Then can you do something about my memories?” Mihara asked pointedly, trying to pull his mind away from the awkward situation his two Servants were getting into behind his back. Despite the fact that they were invisible to everyone, the link he had with them currently was strong enough to get a good feel of what was happening. And he wasn’t very comforted by it at all.

“I am afraid I cannot.” He replied curtly, dashing Mihara’s hopes to the ground in mere seconds.

“What! Why?!” He couldn’t help but voice his thoughts, even though he already had an idea of the reason.

“As many other NPCs have already told you; we are not allowed to even touch the files of a Master.” Father Kotomine replied, deadpan.

“But you’re the Overseer!” Mihara almost shouted.

“And that is what I intend to do.” He replied again, deadpan. “I intend to oversee this Holy Grail War, and ensure that nothing out-of-place occurs. Your personal predicament in terms of your memories is none of my concern.” He gave Mihara a knowing smile, as though he had a precious toy with him, but was refusing to give it away for other people to play with. “I look forward to seeing your growth during the next few weeks, with relish.”

“Tch…” Mihara grinded his teeth in complete annoyance: It was obvious that this priest had all the answers, but was completely unwilling to give it away. But something about him…Something very dangerous that Mihara just couldn’t define, prevented a more forceful approach to procure the information he wanted.

Even with his two Servants with him, he had a suspicion he would fail miserably.

“If you wish to make further queries, please speak now. The right to ask about the rules is given to all.” Father Kotomine spoke again, repeating his words from previously, accentuating the fact that this man was an NPC, and not a real human.

Mihara gritted his teeth again. He was tempted to ask him the same question as he did beforehand about his memories, hoping to try and redo the conversation. But he had a disturbing feeling that this priest-slash-NPC will only follow his lead and keep the conversation going in circles as long as Mihara had the patience for.

“This is only going to go in circles, isn’t it?” Mihara whispered his thoughts as he rubbed his temples, exasperated.

“Perhaps it is time we find a new stage to explore, Master?” Saber’s voice echoed behind him, somewhat perturbed and uneasy.

“Yeah; this old priest’s gonna drive us up the wall before we get anything out of him.” Caster’s voice echoed her colleague’s discomfort.”

“Alright.” Mihara began, both acknowledging his Servant’s advice, as well as a preamble to his final question. “Since it is clear that I have no other choice in the matter; who are my opponents for this round of the ‘Tournament’?”

“Yes, that…” Kotomine began, apparently skipping out of his customary ‘if you wish to make further queries’ speech. “The SERAPH is still in the process of calculating and reassigning matchups in light of your unexpected disturbance. You will be informed of your matches by tomorrow midday.”

He gestured to a bulletin board on the far left of the sandy courtyard. It wasn’t there during the preliminaries, but there were already a number of students and other people gathered there, scrutinizing it carefully.

“You will receive a notice on your Terminal tomorrow when your opponents have been decided.” Father Kotomine continued. “Go there to find it when you do.”

“Thank you for answering my questions, _Father_.” Mihara voiced his thanks, although the only shred of thanks he had for this damn priest, was the fact that he did not have to choose which Servant he must delete.

‘ _Well, I suppose it’s a silver lining on a… rather large… and rather dark, cloud._ ’ He quietly thought to himself. ‘ _No memories, no knowledge about who I am or any abilities… And I’m left with no choice but to fight 2 Masters and their 2 Servants. Can I really do that? Kill them, that is? It sounds just so… so…_ ’

“Very well.” Kotomine’s voice brought Mihara out of his thoughts before he could complete them. “As it seems your questions are satisfied, I would recommend that you go and explore the Arena today to get used to it’s inner workings.”

“I’m not exactly _satisfied_ as such, but I’ll take your words to heart, _Father_.” Mihara grumbled under his breath, still trying to process the new information he had received.

“Then I will be on my way.” The priest replied calmly. “I wish you the best of luck, young Master. Remember; you only have 6 days until the elimination battle. Tomorrow your opponents will be announced; you should prepare yourself adequately before then.” With that said, the priest left the area, walking towards the school building without further concern.

“This is just getting more and more complicated, isn’t it…?” He asked no one in particular as he rubbed his temples, the faint chatter of the other students-no, Masters, he reminded himself, filtering in through his ears.

“I must be a prodigy to have entered and passed the prelims on a whim!”

“Finally the main event is underway…”

“Wow…I’ve dived into a lot of virtual worlds, but this really takes the cake! My compliments to the SERAPH.”

“With me and my sweetheart together; there’s no way we’d lose to anyone!”

“Hah, so this’ the real deal eh? The vibe’s completely different from the prelims!”

“Hey, you interested in teaming up to pool info?”

“With you?! Hah, how about you get on Shinji’s level first, then come back and ask me.”

The voices around him seemed excited, seemingly ignoring the fine print in that all losers in this tournament are killed permanently. Mihara felt very perturbed at this overall lack of concern, having come very close to death himself during the preliminaries.

“You seem somewhat confused, Master.” Caster’s concerned voice asked him. “Was what the priest said a bit too much?”

“No, I just need some time to take everything in, I think.” Mihara shook his head as he replied his invisible Servant. “Maybe I’ll head up to the rooftop for a bit to clear my mind.”

“It would be foolish to run into battle without a clear head first.” Saber’s voice echoed. “I suppose there should be enough time to head to the Arena after such a small diversion.”

Nodding to his invisible Servants, Mihara quickly picked up the pace and headed over to the main school building and up to the rooftop, just as Issei Ryuudou had advised him earlier.

* * *

Mihara was not disappointed as he opened the steel door to the rooftop with a silent _creak_. Though he hadn’t been up here in person during the preliminaries, he remembered the brief glimpse of the view he had when he came to find his friend during the second day of the preliminaries.

The view of the blazing sunset from then was now replaced with a swirling mass of ocean-blue water. It was as though the school, and for that matter, the entire town was submerged underwater. Floating around this ‘ocean’, were large bubbles floating upwards towards a hypothetical surface that laid just at the edge of his vision. There, he could just barely make out a weaving mass of pale blue numbers and letters, supposedly the ‘code’ that made up this ‘virtual world. Combine that with the bright sun that shone down through it, it was a truly spectacular view.

During his walk in the town earlier, he hadn’t really paid attention to what was above him; but now he couldn’t help but regret that decision. Now however, he slowly walked out of the dark entryway back to the school, and towards the railings to get a better view of the town below, where he stood silently, admiring the view.

Too absorbed in admiring it, Mihara failed to notice another person here on the rooftop, standing at the railings deep in thought.

“I don’t get it…” She mumbled, the first words he heard her speak as his head snapped around to see who it was. “I’ve investigated this school from top to bottom, but there’s absolutely nothing unique about it…” She rubbed her chin as she patted the railings with her free hand, continuing to mumble.

Although they’ve never met in person, Mihara remembered enough from the preliminaries that the person before him could be none other than Rin Tousaka. Though all of his ‘memories’ of the past four days of school were fake, he could clearly remember the gossip about her looks and grades. Clearly, they were not exaggerated, and Mihara could easily see why Shinji was so rattled by her during the second day of the ‘preliminaries’.

Of course, that was then, and Mihara knew that many things will be different from today onwards. The both of them were Masters in this ‘Holy Grail War’, where the only steadfast rule is kill, or be killed. And however much he may want to refuse that grim truth, he still must acknowledge it if he wanted to stay breathing for more than a week. That much was clear from Father Kotomine’s explanation.

“…Hm?” Rin Tousaka, having dropped out of her own little world then noticed Mihara’s presence. “Hey, you over there.”

His eyes looked up at her in surprise. Although Mihara did stand a few inches taller than the girl before him, there was a clear aura of confidence about her that made it feel as though Mihara were the one a few inches shorter.

“Yeah, you.” Her eyes softened as she gave him a small smile. “Hmm…I haven’t gotten a chance to check out the NPC’s yet; the last time the SERAPH intervened before I could. Stay still, alright? This shouldn’t take more than a moment.”

She flicked a lock of hair out of the way before stepping up towards him as he unquestioningly obeyed, standing as still as a statue.

To his shock, as soon as she was in range, her slender fingers reached out to touch his cheeks without a hint of hesitation. Uncertain of what to do, all his body could do was stand stock still for her to finish her investigation.

“Imagine that…” She smiled to herself as she kept her fingers still on his cheek. “You’re warm, though you shouldn’t be considering everything…Hm? Well, isn’t this interesting… Your cheeks are flushing like a normal human too…”

It’s true. To his great embarrassment, Mihara couldn’t help keep the blood from rushing to his face at how close this delicate young woman was standing to him. And to make matters worse, he could hear his servants behind him begin commenting on this rather awkward situation, evidently keeping themselves invisible as Rin showed no reaction to them.

“…Who do you think you are, feeling up other people like that?” Caster’s more than disgruntled voice jabbed.

“I hope that this is just a moment of carelessness on her part.” Saber commented, somewhat darkly. “And for a moment I believed her to be a rather capable opponent.”

“…Please don’t do anything rash.” He sighed, unable to do anything else as he continued to stand still.

“What do you mean?” Rin asked, evidently thinking the comment was directed at her. Her fingers had already moved down from his cheeks, slowly patting him along the shoulders, arms and stomach as she continued her investigation.

“Interesting…” She whispered to herself as she stood back, placing a hand on her chin as she looked him over again. “You’re more well-built than I expected…You both look, and feel ‘real’…Possibly even more real than most people outside of the Moon Cell…”

She blinked several times, before looking over her shoulders with a scowl and calling out to someone. “Hey, what are you laughing at?” She turned her body around to look at the invisible person before continuing. It was most likely her Servant, deciding to let her know how much of a fool she’s making herself out to be.

“It’s to our advantage to investigate everything in this world to exploit for our advantage, even the NPCs…” Her voice dimmed down as she finished her sentence, her scowl being replaced by confusion as she turned back to look at Mihara.

“Wait… You’re telling me he’s a Master too…?”

Mihara shrugged slightly, hoping that the flush from his face had disappeared by now before holding up his right hand and pulling down the bandages that covered the back.

Shining out from behind, was the unmistakeable brilliant crimson mark of a Command Seal.

“No way…” Rin Tousaka blinked in amazement and confusion. “A Master should be more… Should be more…” Mihara managed to catch himself before pulling down the other set of bandages that covered his left hand to surprise her even more.

‘ _If I want to survive, I better start getting into the habit of not showing all my cards at the beginning of the game…_ ’ He thought to himself grimly. ‘ _Showing her that one was probably a bad move already… Though how much worth hiding it from her would be, is certainly questionable…_ ’

A few moments of silence passed between the two, before the penny dropped as her eyes widened in shock. In an instant, blood flushed her porcelain white face as she emitted a surprisingly high-pitched scream.

“W-Wait wait wait!” She doubled back in surprise, putting a good couple of metres between the two of them before she turned to the side, her face beet red in embarrassment. “T-That means I… I felt up a…”

Mihara could feel the heat rising back into his face as he tried to calm himself down, taking several deep breaths as he stood still, keeping the distance between the two constant.

“Ugh…” Rin groaned, smacking her palm onto her forehead, clearly still embarrassed and perturbed at her earlier actions. “How embarrassing…” Suddenly, her body stood rigid as she turned around again, stamping her feet firmly on the floor as she faced what Mihara presumed to be her Servant.

“Shut it!” She screamed. “I can make mistakes too you know! Stop calling me a pervert!” I-It could have been my imagination… Or a hacker… A-Anyway, it’s your fault as well!” She turned around again to begin redirecting her anger at Mihara, still standing and waiting. “You’re too bland to be anything but an NPC; nothing but a blank look scrawled all across your face even now. Were the preliminaries too boring to jog your memories or something?”

Although he tried not to be, clearly his mind was still very uneasy about his lack of memories. Unable to utter a retort at her, probably unintentional, jab at him, all he could do was stand still in silence.

“…What is it?” She spat out at his lack of response after a few moments, before blinking and squinting her eyes, taking a closer look at his face. “Wait… Don’t tell me…” Again, her eyes widened in shock as she realised the extent of trouble Mihara was in. “You’re memories haven’t returned yet, have they?” He gave a small, stiff nod to confirm her suspicions.

“That’s… That’s really not good…” She began muttering, concern written on her face. “Once you enter the Holy Grail War, there’s no way out but to be the last person standing; leaving prematurely is forbidden…Well then again, without any battle experience or memories to draw from, you’ll be downed pretty quickly in this war, so there’s not much I can do anyway.” After coming to her own conclusions, she turned around to look out over the city from the railings, the concern in her voice having already faded as quickly as it appeared.

As he watched her in silence, his face contorted into a grimace without him realising it. Indeed; it was his own problem, and nobody else’s. Somehow, he’ll have to deal with it himself if he wanted to survive. And to Rin Tousaka, on this battlefield everyone is an enemy by default. Friends or allies were more than likely to be a mistake in her eyes.

“Ha ha!” He could hear Saber’s voice behind him. “An impudent blow indeed, but I was right; she will be a very interesting opponent, come the day where we will fight. Hopefully she does not make too many of such mistakes as previously so that she may live that long.”

“While I’m still very perturbed at her previous actions…” Caster’s voice accompanied her. “I’ll have to agree with Saber; I can’t wait for the day where I tear that smug face off of her in the Coliseum! Where does she get away with thinking she’s so high and mighty?!”

“Well it seems as though you both can agree on something at least.” Mihara sighed, unable to respond to Rin’s dismissal of him.

But at least her words have reinforced what he already knew: To allow himself to be defeated at any time in the upcoming weeks, was to allow himself to die. Though at current, he has no wish to be granted by the prize at the end of this tourney, keeping a firm grip on his life was certainly more than enough to spur him on.

“…Haah.” An unexpected sigh came from Rin Tousaka, still watching over the town with her back towards him. “Well, I guess I pity you. Whether its excitement or nerves, I’m pretty sure everything feels completely unreal to you, as though you’re in a dream…” Describing his feelings somewhat accurately, she turned around to look at him again.

“It’ll be hard to do anything feeling so disorientated, let alone staying alive and attempting to win through this… Though with that said, you don’t look cut out for fighting in something like this, even if you have your memories with you.” She sighed again as she brought her hands up to her temples, rubbing them. “Darn it, your pathetic face is making this really difficult for me.”

‘ _Her tongue seems just about as sharp as Shinji’s it seems…_ ’ The idle thought passed him by. Having Rin detail his situation more or less accurately had served to calm him down somewhat, for whatever reason.

“Fine then, I suppose any scrap of information would be helpful in your predicament…” She continued, fixing him with a glare that prevented him from saying anything. “And since nobody else is stupid enough to help a potential enemy, I’ll do it.”

“Th-Thank you very much for your understanding.” Surprised at her sudden change of heart, Mihara thanked her sincerely, bowing.

She looked away suddenly for a brief moment, before continuing. “And… Well… I guess I still owe you for what… happened… just now… And don’t you dare say a word!” She added finally, looking over her shoulder, presumably at her invisible Servant.

‘ _It seems as though he, or she, really enjoys pushing Rin’s buttons…_ ’ Mihara thought to himself as he winced slightly in surprise at her vehemence.

“In any case, what do you want to know?” She returned her attention back to him. “I’m sure the basics will be enough for now…Anything else and you’re on your own; go hack the library or poke around the SERAPH for more information if you want it.”

‘ _Right, the library…_ ’ He nodded to her in affirmation. He blinked for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts, while an idea came up on him. ‘ _I’d assume that the school library, or perhaps even the town library would suffice, if one exists… Information about this entire thing, plus Servants are likely to be hidden there. While they may not like it, I should have a look around for information on my own Servants…After all, how am I supposed to fight alongside them if I don’t even know the base line of their own abilities?_ ’

“I’ll start from the beginning then.” Mihara began after he collected his thoughts. “What is the SERAPH in the first place? I’ve talked to several NPCs about the rules of the Holy Grail War, and how this virtual world works for Masters like us, but basic information like that yields me a blank slate. All I know about it, is that its just the name of this virtual world we are in.”

“That’s right, isn’t it.” Rin thought out loud. “Let me start from scratch then. You are right in that the SERAPH is the name given to this artificial world. The SERAPH itself is only a small part of the Supercomputer that is known as the Moon Cell. While that alone may sound like something big to someone knowing nothing like you, understand this: The small amount of computing power and capacity allocated to the SERAPH alone is on a completely different level from most modern day computers. To generate one Legendary Soul, or rather, one of our Servants, is already impossible by most modern-day standards, yet here there are just over 400 of them. Add to that, you need to remember the virtual bodies and senses we have been given to explore this world accurately, as well as the necessary NPCs, the buildings, locations, etcetera.”

“You prove your point very well.” Mihara nodded in affirmation, even though his mind itself was unable to comprehend the sheer magnitude and power the generator of this world wields.

“As you can guess from what I’ve told you, the sheer complexity of this virtual world, as well as the security measures that are in place, are already enough to drive most hackers insane just looking at it. To be able to get in here and form that digital body you are using-” She pointed directly at him while still leaning on the railings. “Requires you be a magus-level hacker.”

“You say magus-level as though it is common knowledge…” He decided to point out. “Could you explain to me a bit more on that?”

“Hm, I suppose I could.” Rin thought for a bit, before continuing.

“As I’ve told you, the SERAPH is a virtual world, and hence we have no actual corporeal forms here.” Mihara nodded at this, remembering what he had heard from Sakura Matou before at his house.

“Normal hackers can get into computers and such just by using programs; it is impossible for that to work here. But for magus-level hackers, such a task is simple enough.”

“Sorry, but when you say magus…” Mihara had to interrupt as a thought came to him. “Do you mean magus, as in, people who can use magic? Like magicians?”

“Yes… And, no.” She said, seemingly half unsure about it herself. “That discussion will take far more time than I have to spare for you, but for the basics, understand that magi are people who can use ‘magic’ to some degree. This ability is granted by what are known as Magic Circuits, born within people: There are only a few known ways of creating more magic circuits after a person has been born, though most to all of them are considered very dangerous. You cannot just ‘become’ a magus; you are either born one or not.”

“Alright, I think I get it…” He confirmed, nodding his head slowly.

“Okay, back to what I was saying…” Rin replied without wasting any time. “A magus can use the magic circuits to effectively digitise their soul, and then insert themselves into virtual worlds such as this one. As is evident; such a technique is far beyond the capabilities of normal hackers and their programs.”

“Okay…” Mihara nodded as he thought of another question to build onto that. “When you say ‘digitise their souls’, what happens to their real body?”

“Your real body remains on Earth, of course.” She answered simply. “It’s supposed to be kept in a cryogenic pod to preserve all of its normal functions while your soul is busy exploring this place for who-knows how many days. While your soul is inhabiting the SERAPH, your body is little more than an empty shell. When you’re all done, your soul is re-implanted back into your body so that you can wake up again. Honestly, I’m surprised that you can’t even remember the last moments you had in the real world, before winding up here.”

“Please don’t ask me how that could have happened.” He shook his head tiredly. “Then… What about the actual prize of this entire thing? The ‘Holy Grail’?”

“Well, since I’ve never actually seen it in person, I can’t fill you in on the details of that as much.” She replied matter-of-factly. “However, I can confirm that it does exist, and that it does exactly what it says on the tin: It is capable of granting any wish asked of it. Some Western Plutocrats are here to try and seal it away from use. Some others are here to take it for themselves. And as the rule of this Holy Grail War states, only the last Master left standing can claim the Holy Grail. All others must be eliminated, no two ways about it. That is why all of us are enemies, including you and me.”

“Eliminated…” Mihara sighed as he shook his head grimly, before a thought hit him. “Then, what about the preliminaries? What of the Hackers that tried to get in before this ‘Holy Grail War’ began?”

“Ah, yes.” She nodded to herself as though that was a distant memory already. “As you can tell, only magus-level hackers can enter the SERAPH to try and participate in this Holy Grail War. But even with the enormous computing power allocated to the SERAPH, it is still impossible to generate over 5,000 Servants to give to each and every hacker that manages to hook in for this war. Though I suppose all the resources in the Moon Cell might be capable of it, I guess even computers will try to work with what they get. So, the SERAPH creates the preliminary round: A four-day period in which all of the hackers that had managed to hook in, are given a simple test to see if they are worthy to fight in this War.”

“Which is to try and realise that the virtual school they were attending was all a fake? As were the fake memories and personalities they were implanted with to override their previous memories?” Mihara asked.

“Yes, exactly.” Rin nodded in confirmation. “As you can probably guess, for such a simple test, surprisingly only the best of the best can pass through. During the prelims, there were about 7,600 hackers who had tried to get in. By the end, just over 400 remain.”

“That is… Astounding…” Mihara couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of accomplishment, being able to pass through the prelims which had such a low pass rate. But this feeling was quickly replaced with a sense of unease, as a thought hit him. “What happened to the 7,000-or so other hackers that failed to pass?”

“Oh, them?” Rin asked, nonchalantly. “They’re all deleted.”

“…What?” He asked.

“I said deleted.” She repeated herself again, matter-of-factly. “De-le-ted. Killed, erased, whatever you call it, from this virtual world. Their entire digitised soul is taken and torn apart back into ones and zeroes which make up computer data.”

“…Then, what about their real-life bodies…?” Mihara asked slowly after a pause, afraid of the answer he’ll get.

“As your soul is unable to return to your body, it’ll be left as a shell until the cryogenic pod holding it breaks down and it rots away.” Again, Rin replies matter-of-factly. “When you’re killed here, you’re killed there too, for all effects and purposes.”

“Isn’t there a way to restore the data?” He asked. “I mean… Come on, isn’t dying a little bit high of a penalty for failing a _preliminary_ round?!”

“With high rewards, comes an equally high risk.” She replies simply. “Everyone who had entered here should know the risks that come with it, so complaining about it for the sake of some deceased dunces is absolutely pointless.”

Mihara felt a flame of anger suddenly light up in him targeted at the young woman, even though he knew that it was unwise to make an enemy of Rin Tousaka. Especially after she has gone this far out of her way to explain the core basics to him. And he knew why he felt that way.

“My friend died during those prelims.” He muttered, just loud enough for Rin to hear.

“Oh, you can remember you entered with a friend?” She asked. “How quaint. And here I just finished telling you that you have to kill each other at the end of-”

“That’s not it.” He interrupted her, shaking his head vehemently as he clenched his fists, trying to contain his anger.

“Oh? Oh!” She repeated the word twice in realisation. “You mean the fake friends the SERAPH gave to you during the prelims, don’t you?”

“I would ask that you do not desecrate their names any further.” Mihara’s request was simple, but the emotions flitting about his face were complex. And Rin could see them clearly.

“Oh, I see.” She nodded to herself. “Without any memories at all, those four days are all you have, aren’t they?” He stiffened even further as she hit the nail on the head. “All the friends ‘given’ to you by the SERAPH…They’re the only people you know of in your short memory span, aren’t they? In the same breath however, let me ask you a question: Do you even know the names of the deceased?”

Mihara stiffened up again at her gentle prodding. Anymore of this, and he would have turned into a stone statue. But sadly, he had nothing to answer her with. He had only four friends during the preliminaries: Shinji Matou, and an unknown young man known only by his nickname, Club Ace #1. The former he had no idea of his condition, and frankly wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to see his face again. The latter however, he saw die before his very eyes. The remaining two ‘friends’ he had during the prelims, Mihara was willing to assume them to be generic NPCs, and hence still alive, after all he had heard...

“I thought so.” The corners of her mouth turned upwards ever so slightly after the lengthy pause between the two. “Well, I will honour your wish; it’s simple enough as it is. But let me tell you at least this: Whoever your ‘friends’ were, they’ve been deleted by the SERAPH. They’ve been killed long before this tourney had even started. And people die when they’re killed, regardless of whether its in the virtual world, or in the real world. Do yourself a favour and move on from your little world of four days. You may just be able to survive until the end of this week if you do.” She flicked a lock of hair from the side of her head before moving on. “So, is there anything else?”

“…No, I think I’ve heard enough.” Mihara muttered after a short pause.

“Is that so?” Rin nodded, ignoring his darkened mood. “If you say so, I have no problems stopping now. Use the time left to you today to at least find a way to put up a fight during the Coliseum battle at the end of the week, okay?”

“Thanks for your help.” He muttered curtly as he quickly turned away, towards the exit of the rooftop, unsure as to how he should deal with his own swirling emotions right now.

Rin Tousaka had hit all of the nails right on the head: His world consisted only of the previous four days. His list of acquaintances included his two friends from the prelims, his two Servants, and the girl he had just talked to.

“Damnit.” He muttered to himself as the door closed behind him with a creak, his two invisible Servants following him down.

“Master, I advise that you not lose your cool so easily.” Saber’s voice began. “Though I suppose what that woman has to say is reasonable enough. Mourning over a man you knew for only four days is foolish, and will only distract you from more important tasks at the beginning.”

“Though I hate to admit it…” Caster’s voice also chimed in. “She does speak some sense; What’s in the past, is in the past. With everything as it is, it’s even more important that we hit the ground running. We can’t… bring anyone back from the dead…”

“Yes, I know… I shouldn’t let myself dwell on this for too long.” He murmured his reply to the both of them as he reached the third floor, a number of people who Mihara assumed to be Masters wandering the floor and talking to one another. “It’s… It’s just a bit too sudden, I guess. I should probably do something to take my mind off of things for a while.”

“Then we should head over to the Arena and get used to how it works, like that Priest said.” Saber replied. “We only have today before our opponents are announced, and the real work begins.”

“Fair enough, let’s go.” Mihara replied, straightening his back and glad that he had at least _something_ to do to keep his mind off the uncertainties his life had.

Just as he was turning around to go down the stairs to the first floor, he saw a blur of black and brown rush up the stairs. Unfortunately, as he was on the way down, he happened to be straight in the blur’s path.

“Guh!” Mihara grunted as the blur smashed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Without any time to brace himself, he was quickly knocked onto his back, collapsing onto the floor with a dull _thud_ as alarm bells began ringing inside his head.

“Owww….” A pained voice echoed through the corridor as Mihara immediately rolled out of the way and back onto his feet, quickly identifying the blur.

“…It’s the Chief.” He commented weakly as his body dropped from red alert.

The person in question was sitting on the floor and rubbing her head with a grimace on her face, apparently in suffering. Her characteristic long brown hair splayed around her, with the black uniform of the Student Council being a familiar sight for Mihara.

“Oya?” She looked up as he spoke. “It’s Club Ace #2.”

“Why do you insist on calling me that still?!” He couldn’t help but shout out a reply as he felt himself being drawn back to the preliminary period.

“I told you already, it’s because it’s faster.” She replied, pouting at him. Sighing, Mihara stretched out a hand to her sitting figure, helping her pull back up to her feet.

“In any case; welcome to the Holy Grail War, Mihara Hakuno!” She spoke with the usual energy Mihara remembered, quickly putting him at ease. “I’m glad to see at least one of my aces made it through, even if it’s the second-rate one!”

“Ah… Um, yeah…” Quite quickly Mihara’s mood took a nosedive as he remembered the time he spent with his friend during the preliminaries upon the Chief’s words.

“Oh…” The Chief noticed her mistake fairly quickly. “…Are you still mad you’re number 2?”

“…I can’t believe you are seriously this dense, woman!!!” Caster’s voice cried out in irritation behind her Master, knocking him back to reality.

“Ugh, sorry, no I’m not mad about anything, Chief.” He muttered as he forced a smile, waving his hand to disperse the situation. “But um, well…”

“Hm, come to think of it I never really told you my name during the preliminaries, did I? Always referring to me as Chief and all.” Apparently her thoughts had already gone off on a tangent as soon as she realised he wasn’t angry at her. “Well, let me introduce myself properly then.”

Stepping backwards, she folded her hands neatly before her as she took a quick bow before speaking.

“Greetings, my name’s Suzuha Ikou, younger sister of Arina Ikou who’s in charge of managing the Arena. I look forward to working with you from now on!”

“Haah…” Mihara shook his head with a sigh, a calm smile on his lips. Somehow he was always drawn into this person’s pace no matter how hard he tries to go against it.

‘ _But then again, she’s an NPC, and not an actual person, is she?_ ’ He thought to himself, before opening his mouth.

“Good to be working with you then, Suzuha. I assume you and your elder sister are both NPCs for this Holy Grail War then?”

“Yep!” She said with a smile. “We’re in charge of making sure that the monsters in there don’t get out and cause havoc in the town and make the SERAPH’s life difficult. We also make sure that the hacking Masters do in there doesn’t get too excessive, though in my opinion Arina always seems to set the firewall settings too low…”

“Uh huh…” Mihara nodded, a dumbfounded expression on his face. “Sorry, I don’t really understand half of what you’re saying about the Arena.”

“Really?” Suzuha asked him with a sceptical face. “And even after I trained you in data-gathering techniques for a good four days too…” She crossed her arms with a very sad and disappointed look on her face.

“Don’t pull that kind of false act on me.” He replied, slapping his face in exasperation. “How am I supposed to know about the Arena with the kind of knowledge I got from the last four days?”

“Oh, good point.” She snapped her fingers in realisation. “Well we were briefed about your memory loss situation, and was told to expect you to come begging for help at every turn.”

“I’m not that bad…” He moaned tiredly, rubbing his forehead as he felt his energy already draining from being in the presence of this live electric generator. “Or am I?”

“It is a reasonable assumption to make, considering everything Master.” Saber’s disembodied voice replied bluntly.

“No argument from me there.” Caster’s voice accompanied her colleague. “But who is this girl anyway?! I can barely keep up with her myself!”

“Uh, an NPC from the preliminaries I was ‘friends’ with.” Mihara whispered, answering what he assumed to be his Servant’s curiosity.

“In any case, it would be best to take advantage of this situation, Master.” Saber cut back in. “She claims to be related to the manager of the Arena. Considering your current lack of knowledge, it would be best if you received a briefing from her before we move in to accomplish what we set out to do today.”

“Understood.” Mihara shook his head, before turning back to Suzuha, looking at him expectantly. “Though it pains me to say it, yes, you are right in that I need a bit of an explanation in how the Arena works…Memory loss and all…”

“Yep; just give me a sec to report to my sister, I’ll be back in a flash.” Suzuha made a quick salute, before running off down the corridor to the building’s right wing like a black blur.

This time making sure to watch what’s in front of her.

“I don’t know whether to count myself lucky or unlucky.” Mihara said after she turned the corner and out of sight. Leaning onto the wall next to a window, he rubbed his temple in preparation of what’s to come.

“Why is that exactly, Master?” Caster’s voice asked, somewhat suspicious.

“No; it’s just that she’s a living battery, with the amount of energy she has.” He mumbled in response. “While I will certainly appreciate any information about the Arena, having to get it from her is going to be very tiring.”

‘ _Well, I should count myself lucky I guess._ ’ He thought, pulling a wry smile. ‘ _At least with her my thoughts can stay buried for a little while longer._ ’

“I can guess…” Caster’s voice replied. “Ah, she’s back.”

“Already?!” Mihara’s eyes popped open in shock as he turned to look down the corridor. Sure enough, the familiar black blur was already on its way down the corridor to his position. Bracing himself for impact, Suzuha’s familiar figure skidded to a stop before him a few moments later.

“Right; my sister gave the green light so I can take some time to explain things to you properly.” She began speaking as soon as she stopped in front of him, his body relaxing as he saw he was in no imminent danger of being knocked over.

“Thanks for helping me out.” Mihara nodded in reply. “Although, if you don’t mind me asking first; where do you and your sister work?”

“Oh, that?” Suzuha asked in confirmation. “We’re stationed next to the Multimedia Room at the end of the corridor.” She pointed down the direction she just came from, before jumping to the real topic. “Well, let me start off with the basics of the Arena, alright?”

“Sure.” He nodded in confirmation as he prepared himself to take in the information.

“First of all, the Arena is where Masters and their Servants go to train themselves for the Elimination Battle at the end of the round.” She began, folding her arms. “There, the SERAPH has generated a number of programs with minimal A.I. for Masters to train themselves fighting against. Got that?” Mihara nodded his head in affirmation.

“Of course, fighting them alone isn’t enough to improve to be able to win during your Elimination Battle.” Suzuha continued. “Sure, it’ll let you test yourself against new enemies and their tactics, but there’s only so much you can do to improve there. What you really want to get out of the enemies you find there, is their data.”

“Data?” He asked, looking at her puzzled.

“I told you earlier that all the enemies you can fight there are programs.” She explained. “When you fight and defeat them successfully, the programs themselves are deactivated, and the data that makes them up is absorbed by your terminal.”

“So… This absorbs my enemy’s data as they’re defeated?” Mihara asked again quizzically as he pulled out the flat terminal that he had gotten from Sakura this morning.

“Yep.” Suzuha nodded energetically. “You can reshape and reprogram the data you get from your defeated enemies, and can use it to improve the connection between you and your Servant. The stronger the connection between you and your Servant, the stronger they will get.”

“Okay, I think I get it…” He nodded somewhat slowly. “How exactly do I improve the connection then, after absorbing the data?”

“Oh, we’ve got a couple of specialists on contract who can do that for you.” She replied. “Though they’re a bit busy right now setting up shop.”

“…Wait, ‘specialists on contract’?” Mihara couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, simply put, there are some humans that are not actively taking part in the Holy Grail War.” Suzuha began explaining. “They’ve hooked into the SERAPH for reasons other than the Holy Grail War, but must do something for the SERAPH so that they can stay here. Us NPC’s say that they’re on contract; the one you’d like to speak to about strengthening the connection between you and your Servants is one of them, though as I said, they’re a bit busy setting up.”

“Alright… I’ll go and find them at a later date when I get enough data.” He nodded in affirmation again. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“I should probably mention that the SERAPH has placed a bounty on all opponents that you may meet in the Arena.” She mentioned in reply.

“Bounty?” Mihara asked.

“Well, any decent virtual world needs virtual money of course!” Suzuha exclaimed in reply. “And what better way to implement that than make the enemy programs you fight be worth a small bounty! I’m pretty sure you’ve made your way down to town by now and done some exploring?”

‘ _So that’s how I can get more money…_ ’Mihara thought as he nodded his reply. ‘ _Then the initial sum’s probably from all the effigies my Servants eliminated from before…_ ’

“Then no doubt you’ve seen all the stuff for sale down there. Each enemy program that you defeat in the Arena will immediately net you some PPT, the virtual money we use here; you can see how much you’ve got in your account via your terminal. You can use that money to buy whatever you want from town; food, furniture, or even clothes! I’m pretty sure some other Masters would appreciate gifts like that… And I’m pretty sure your Servant will appreciate something like that too.”

“It appears that going to the Arena is more important than I could have imagined.” Saber’s voice said in thought. “The house that we have been given is particularly destitute and in severe need of refurbishing.”

“Ooh, shopping!” Caster’s excited voice chimed in. “That’ll always be a good distraction from all the fighting we’re going to be doing, Master!”

‘ _It’s actually a pretty fancy house if you’d ask me…_ ’ Mihara thought wryly. ‘ _And Shopping…? Seriously? I’d think there’s more important things to look into other than that while I’m here…_ ’

“Oh, you’re so stingy Master.” Caster’s voice replied his thoughts, surprising hm. “Once we’re done in there, we’ll be swimming in money so you really shouldn’t worry about that!”

“And though I may be able to endure living in such ramshackle lodgings,” Saber’s voice also replied his thoughts. “Any chance at improvement will be one that I will take most readily.”

‘ _Wait a minute… Why the heck can you two read my thoughts?!_ ’ He couldn’t help but think incredulously. He hadn’t actually thought about this before, but on occasion his Servants seem to be able to guess his mood and his thoughts exactly right to the letter.

“This girl has said it already has she not?” Saber’s voice replied his unspoken question again. “Masters and Servants share a weak mental connection that naturally comes along with our contract.”

“If you try hard enough yourself,” Caster’s voice cut in. “You’d probably be able to do something similar.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll have to remember that.” Mihara spoke tiredly to confirm what his Servants, and Suzuha, had just told hm.

“And there’s one last thing that I absolutely have to tell you.” She began again after hearing his confirmation. “Masters who have been paired together for their elimination matches will always be assigned to the same floor of the Arena to explore. When they do, opposing Masters are not allowed to fight for prolonged periods while in the Arena. And on top of this, they are absolutely forbidden on fighting outside of the Arena, or the Coliseum.”

“Why’s that?” He couldn’t help but ask again. “Without a chance to fight the enemy, how are we supposed to be able to gauge their skill level and abilities?”

“I said prolonged periods.” Suzuha replied, slightly miffed at being interrupted. “Masters can fight against each other in the Arena, but the SERAPH will forcibly disrupt the fight after a certain time period is up. This lets the opposing teams get a chance to test each other out, while at the same time preventing any premature casualties from happening.”

“…‘Premature casualties’?” Mihara asked again sceptically.

“Well, the climactic battle at the end of the week awaits of course!” She replied again with her usual energy. “A fight to the death deserves its own unique setting and battlefield, does it not?”

“Hm, this girl knows what she is talking about for sure.” Saber’s voice echoed in Mihara’s mind again as he imagined her nodding to herself in satisfaction. “Truly, the opportunity to defeat a great foe in an equally great setting is worth its weight in gold! Especially if there is an audience to watch it!”

“Alright, alright.” He nodded as he accepted of both of their reasoning. “Then what happens if we end up fighting on the School grounds? Or perhaps even outside in town?”

“The SERAPH will immediately break up the fight, and slap the offending Servants with status penalties.” Suzuha replied. “Well, an instant, one-hit kill probably will be a tad bit too fast for the SERAPH to react to, but otherwise any and all fights outside of the Arena and the Coliseum will be broken up quickly, no two-ways about it.”

“…Right, okay.” He put a hand to his chin as he thought through all he had been told, although he had no idea what she meant by ‘status penalties’. He had a feeling he’d find out in due time, or at least when he finds one of those ‘specialist contractors’ to convert the data he had accumulated.

“Right, I think that about covers the basics of the Arena.” She nodded as she tied off her explanation. “The Arena itself you can access from the Sports Hall outside of here. Just hold up your terminal to the main entrance, and it’ll let you through automatically. For now it’s best if you went down there yourself and get a feel of it.”

“Yes, my Servants have been asking me to do that for a while…” Mihara replied wryly.

“Okay then, see you around!” She turned on her heels to face back down the corridor, presumably back to where she and her sister were stationed to monitor the Arena. But before she took off, she turned around to speak to Mihara one last time.

“By the way, don’t die too quickly, okay?” She asked him, as though it was a foregone conclusion. “I made a bet with my sister you’ll at least survive until round two!” Before he could shout a reply at her, she had already dashed off down the corridor.

“Why is it everyone assumes I’m going to die so quickly?!” He thought out loud to himself as he turned towards the staircase, making his way down with the sports hall as his destination. This time, however, his Servants deigned not to answer his question as he silently made his way to his destination.

‘ _Probably because they too think it’s likely._ ’ He thought grimly.


	6. Week 1 Day 1 (Part 3)

**Act 1: Scene 3**

**6 Days Remaining**

**_Evening_ **

* * *

“Well, here’s the place…” He muttered to himself as he looked over the building.

Just like most of the school, the physical building itself was exactly the same as he remembered it. Yet despite that, a feeling that something was severely out of place permeated the air surrounding it, emphasised by the high-tech panel that stood next to the building’s main entrance.

He took a quick look at his surroundings, noticing the lesser number of Masters in the courtyard compared to when he first arrived to talk to Father Kotomine. Presumably most had already entered the Arena for some training.

“Now then, how do I get in…” He mumbled to himself as he took a closer look at the panel.

“…If something so simple as opening a door is beyond you, Praetor, then we have some serious problems ahead.” The doubt Saber’s voice carried was certainly warranted, as Mihara grimaced at her words.

‘ _Praetor?_ ’ He couldn’t help but think to himself. ‘ _That…sounds quite antique. I’d better have a closer look at that when I get the chance._ ’

“Okay, fine, let me try something.” He replied, stepping up to the panel and inspecting it closer. “By the looks of it…” He quickly fished in his pocket for his terminal, bringing it up towards the panel.

As the terminal approached the panel, several electronic _beeps_ sounded out from the panel in front of them, evidently triggering something as the doors to the sports hall became unlocked suddenly.

“Well, that worked.” Caster’s voice chimed in. “Let’s get going; we don’t have much more time to spare for today.”

Nodding in reply, Mihara stepped forward, pushing the doors open as the auras of his two Servants followed behind him.

The room he stepped into was surprisingly small, considering that it was supposed to be the sports hall. Behind him, he heard the doors slam shut automatically as the room became pitch-black.

Standing still, uncertain of what was happening, he could feel his Servants materialise into their physical forms by his side, even though he couldn’t see them through the darkness.

A few moments passed, before he began to see something form from within the gloom.

A floating cube, each of its six faces slowly pulsating in a different colour as it rotated sluggishly in midair.

As more seconds passed by, the cube began to pick up the pace in its rotations, while smaller cubes began to pop out and circle the larger cube. Far away in every direction he could see, strange green lines were being etched into what he presumed to be a wall of some sort.

Abruptly, a flash of bright light shot out from the cube, blinding Mihara's vision with pure white. But as quickly as it came, the light disappeared, revealing the area hadtransformed from what it was **a** few moments ago.

Instead of the black abyss from before, a vast expanse of cliffs stretched out as far as the eye could see. The trio stood on a small, empty plot of grass at the top of a hill, overlooking the entire maze below them. Although it looked as if it was on solid ground, Mihara could just barely make out small trails of bubbles that rose up languidly from within the maze. Behind them stood a cliff face that, while not completely vertical, it was at least steep enough to make climbing it a severe chore. There was no shrubbery or trees visible; all Mihara could see were either cliff rise, or cliff base.

“Um.” Saber spoke from his side as she surveyed the area. “I suppose this is passable, although I was expecting much more when I heard that this Holy Grail War was to be set underwater. This doesn’t seem much more exotic than the fish tank I kept while I was still amongst the living…”

“Just look at how dreary this place looks…” Caster commented beside Saber. “Really, the Moon Cell needs to spruce things up a bit; this place looks almost as bad as – ” Her voice cut short suddenly, pausing for a moment, before resuming. “Well, nevermind. We should get going, Master! There’s not much time left for today, and you should get used to the inner-workings of the Arena as quickly as possible. Though, we shouldn’t push ourselves too much.”

“Indeed, Praetor.” Saber concurred. “We should move quickly, but because today is your first time in battle, it would be wise not to overstretch ourselves.” She scanned the area, noticing the layout before asking him something. “Is there a map of the area on your Terminal, perchance?”

“Er, let me check…” He answered, quickly whipping out the flat pad, turning on the screen and scanning its contents. “…Yeah, there is one.”

“Good.” She nodded curtly. “Then let me confirm my assumptions; there should be a single path from where we stand winding down these cliffs, eventually leading to a small, flat field, correct?”

Scanning the map on his terminal, Mihara noted that Saber’s description of the land was mostly true.

“…Yes, a single path leads from here down to a lake in a flat area.” Mihara confirmed as he turned off the terminal. “From there, a lot of paths wind their way out from the lake and around the cliffs. But uh…”

“Excellent; it seems that my perfect eyesight hasn’t diminished in the slightest.” She smiled to herself, ignoring his unfinished sentence. “In that case, we may proceed from here, and stop at the lake for today. Is that acceptable?”

“I don’t understand why is it you always seem to leave me out of these important things, Saber.” Caster replied, somewhat displeased as she placed her hands on her hips. “Well in any case, that sounds about right for today.”

“Do not be mistaken, Caster.” Saber replied haughtily. “While we may have been forced to work together, I wouldn’t mind if you were to disappear into mist like the enemies I will vanquish. But for the sake of our Master, I will put aside those feelings for now…although my skill alone would be more than enough to finish off two Servants at once.”

“Hoo, still so full of yourself, huh, Saber?” Caster replied somewhat sceptically. “And even after I trounced you so well back when that effigy army came up.”

“ _T-That_ was a fluke!” Saber shouted back. “If I had just five…no, one more minute, I would have killed the rest of them there and then before you even blinked!”

“Erm, while I appreciate that you two are still trying to work out the kinks in your relationship…” Mihara’s voice intruded their argument.

“What!?” The two woman snapped at him.

“There’s a flock of strange birds headed our way…” He pointed to the sky behind them as they turned to look.

Both Servants saw a flock of approximately nine vultures who were closing in rapidly on their position, their eyes lusting after the three’s flesh. Clearly, Mihara thought _,_ they were programs developed by the SE.RA.PH to fight against Servants. Each vulture was far bigger than the average human, and their long necks were as thick as Mihara’s arm.

“Well well, what do we have here…” Saber mumbled to herself as her sword appeared in her hands. “It seems as though we may get a chance to settle the score after all.”

“If you still insist on trying to prove yourself, Saber, then I’ll happily play along!” Caster replied as her mirror appeared out of thin air, circling her. “Do you want to reset the score, Saber? After all, with the lead I have, it will be impossible for you to regain your pride.”

“I refuse to take that condescending tone from you, Caster!” Saber replied. “We’re starting off with where we left off: My four to your nine! I’ll show you just how easy it is for me to tip the scales back in my favour!”

‘ _Logically, Caster should have the advantage in this situation…_ ’ Mihara thought as he zoned out the two’s bickering. ‘ _It will be a bit difficult for Saber to get to melee range with flying enemies…Not to mention that good strikes require decent footwork on a semi-solid surface…Still though; these two are Legendary Souls after all; normal physics may not apply to them. I just hope that their bickering will at least tone down a bit after this…_ ’

“Ooo, well aren’t we confident?” Caster replied. “Well then, think fast!”

As she shouted, a charm [again] appeared in Caster’s right hand. Instead of throwing it as Mihara had last seen, she rolled it up into a tube before pointing it with her finger, at the closest enemy in a second.

The instant afterwards, a stream of fire shot out from the makeshift gun, moving at speeds in which Mihara’s eye barely managed to notice it.

“Not so fast!” Saber’s voice cried as her figure suddenly phased into view next to the target, her crimson sword already in an upward swing aimed at the vulture’s neck.

‘ _I couldn’t see it this time!_ ’ Mihara thought to himself in amazement as Saber’s attack connected before Caster’s spell. ‘ _Was she limiting herself when she was fighting the efiigies?_ ’

The vulture perished with a strange shriek, its decapitated body falling quickly down to the ground. As it did, the body slowly dissolved into black dust that flickered in the air for a moment, before rushing towards Mihara’s side, where he had stashed his terminal. Before it had hit the ground, the vulture had already completely dissolved.

Expectedly, Saber was also forced to obey the law of gravity, and quickly followed the corpse in its descent.

But unlike the corpse, Saber’s jump made it so she was aimed at the cliff that stood nearby, not too far from the side of the flock of birds. With the sound of crumbling stone, her body collided with it feet first as her descent was halted momentarily.

“That’s one down!” She cried the instant she landed.

In the next instant, she pushed herself off the cliff, aiming at the flock which had now turned towards her after their comrade’s dying cry.

With a smirk, Saber readied her blade once again. Swinging forward, the next vulture was cleanly cleaved in two from the beak to its tail. Mihara counted himself fortunate that the entrails supposedly stored within a _real_ vulture weren’t replicated by the program. The corpse turning into the same black particles that swam straight to his terminal.

Saber’s jump this time had no cliff for her to rebound off for another attack at the vultures, which would have send her plummeting to the ravine below, if she hadn’t already had a plan for it **.** Her small body collided straight into the side of another vulture, having planed the trajectory from her first attack.

With a screech, the hurt program was too disoriented to grab onto her red dress, before she had already shot off away from danger, jumping towards her next target.

“What simple programs.” She muttered to herself, as her sword cleaved another vulture’s wing clean off and she headed straight back for the cliff again. “And that’s another two down!” She cried jubilantly as she touched the cliff.

This time however, she had no chance to jump back, as the programs rushed at her, still standing on the cliff.

With a small grunt, Saber quickly jumped away from the area, trying to find a better point to defend herself, as the vultures crashed where she was. Their claws raked into the stone as if it were paper, emitting ear-piercing screeches as they destroyed it effortlessly.

“Damn, Saber, be careful!” Mihara couldn’t help but shout out a warning to his Servant,who continued to hop around the cliff trying to find a better position. “And come down from there already!”

“I fear that's not possible, Master!” She shouted back her reply as she landed, apparently findinga good position. “This is a matter of pride now!” She shoutedand spun around, her sword embedding itself into another one of the monstrous birds’ stomach as it attempted to charge into her. It dissolved instantly into **a** black mist, the same as the others.

“Now it is eight to your nine, Caster!” She cried. “Aren’t you not going to step up to the stage? Or have you already been awed by my inspiring display of prowess?”

‘ _This girl has_ _quite an ego I see…_ ’ Mihara thought grimly to himself as he watched the last five vultures circle her, cautiously well out of her reach. ‘ _I wonder how am I supposed to deal with her…_ ’

“Come now, you oversized pigeons!” Saber shouted, trying to goad her enemies into attacking her, though whether they understood her was another matter entirely. “Or are you too-” Her sentence was stopped short as a small piece of paper floated up in front of her small body, still perched somewhat precariously on the cliff. “-Eh?”

Sensing her sudden loss of concentration, the five programs immediately pressed their attack, all diving straight at her from multiple angles, claws outstretched.

“Saber, watch out!” Mihara couldn’t help but shout, even if he knew it was useless.

However, before Saber could be crushed under the weight of the programs, the area around her froze. A gigantic, irregular block of ice appeared, freezing everything in the area.

“Wh _-_ What!?” Mihara shouted, seeing his Servant and her foes trapped in the block unmoving.

“Boooorrring!” Caster yawned nonchalantly, still standing by her Master’s side. “You know, I could’ve frozen them all from the beginning and taken them out at my leisure…But I don’t like making little puppies sulk so I decided to let her have a chance…Well, I don’t like it either when little puppies get full of themselves.”

“Okay, thank you Caster…” Mihara released a sigh of relief, making a mental note to ask both his Servants at some point to give him a full rundown of their powers, instead of acting ad-hoc like this. Up on the cliff, he could swear he could just barely see the block of ice move, presumably Saber trying her hardest to break free. “Erm…Could you…let her go now, please?”

“Oh, sure, Master!” Caster cried. “But first-!”

Swinging her arm forward, five individual pieces of paper launched from her hand, flying straight at the ice. Upon contact, the charms attached themselves firmly on the block, before each pulsed once with a glowing orange that even Mihara could see from the bottom of the cliff.

In the next instant, the block of ice erupted in a storm of flames and black smoke, sending Mihara cringing from the sight and heat emanating from it.

“Caster… what about Saber!?” He cried, worried about his other Servant still caught in the inferno.

“Oh, I wouldn't worry about her Master.” She replied, waving her hand. “She should be coming down in just a moment.”

“A moment? How?” He asked, before looking up and looking at a familiar red figure whichappeared from the black cloud, sliding down the face of the cliff.

“You-!” She muttered menacingly under her breath as she reached the bottom, a black cloud of dust passing by her towards Mihara’s terminal.

“Ho, ho, ho…” Caster laughed at the dishevelled sight of her partner. “Now that’s fourteen to your eight. Looks I win this round again!”

“You cheated again!” Saber yelled, pointing her sword at her. “You purposely let me take centre stage just so you could take all the credit of victory for yourself! You damn vixen! Your level of trickery is beyond me, even in my heyday!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Saber.” Caster made an exaggerated bow, before attempting to cuddle up to Mihara. “Master, could I get a pat on the head for a job-well done? I won after all.”

“…Err…” Cautiously he brought up a hand and began scratching her head as she asked. Caster squirmed gleefully under his touch.

“Mmm-hmm, now that we’re done here, why don’t we go on with what we had planned for today?” She asked after enjoying her master's petting _,_ asshehopped away at her own pace down the path.

“Haah…” Mihara sighed as he watched her hopping away, her tail swinging behind her happily.

‘ _And Caster on the other hand is…what’s the word? Ditzy?_ ’ He asked himself. ‘ _Dealing with her is a completely different kettle of fish…_ ’ Turning his head, he saw Saber still standing there, her sword hanging limply by her side as she was busy grumbling quietly to herself.

“…Erm…Saber?” He asked as he stepped up to his Servant, wondering how to comfort her.

“…Yes, Master?” She replied.

“Couldn’t you… _Mmm…_ Let this thing about kill count slide?” Mihara began slowly.

“What are you saying, Master!?” Saber replied. “I already said it; this matter is about my pride now! I won't let that fox keep on beating me like this! I will not let this stand!”

“Ugh, Saber…” He rubbed his head slowly, trying to find a way to get through to his wayward/ _stubborn_ Servant. “Not everyone can be good at everything…”

“Who says I can't?” She shot back, pouting.

“Well, if you were…” Mihara began. “There wouldn't be any need of someone else if you were perfect…”

“…I am not saying I am flawless, Master.” Saber saidafter a brief moment of reflection. “But that has nothing to do with my pride as a member of the Saber class!”

“Yes it does, Saber.” He stopped her before she could say continue. “Please, understand that you have your own strengths, and Caster has hers…Caster just happens to specialise in long-ranged, mass-destruction methods. You on the other hand…umm…”

“…Well?” She asked as she saw him struggle.

“You on the other hand…” He repeated, “Excel in one-on-one fights.” He nodded as he finished, adding extra emphasis. “I’m pretty sure that if you and Caster were to fightagainst each other, you would be victorious. It’s just that those kinds of battles and this kind of battle…” He pointed at the small crater that had appeared due to Caster’s attack. “Are on completely different levels. Basically, you aren’t playing to your strengths when you try and start a competition with Caster.”

“…So are you saying this is like a potter and a painter trying to compare the quality of their handiwork?” She asked him after considering his words **.**

“Erm…That’s a pretty weird comparison, but yes, that's correct.” Mihara nodded confidently, seeing as his Servant seems to understand what he was getting at.

“…I see…” She nodded to herself as she thought. “I did not expect such insight to come from a person like you, but your words do have merit…Even though I do excel in both the fields of pottery and painting myself. Very well; I will cease this current game and find another to challenge her.” She smirked at the thought. “Then we will see who shall have the last laugh.”

“Er…Well, I’ll be counting on you for the future then, Saber.” Was he could say as he saw her scheming face. Then, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“And the same to you, Praetor.” She nodded in affirmation, her usual tone of voice returning, before she turned to follow Caster down the path.

‘ _Well, at least she turned back to her normal self for now…_ ’ He thought to himself with a wry smile. ‘Whatever _happens later, I guess I’ll find a way to deal with it one way or another._ ’ Quickly, he hurried after his two Servants down the path, hoping today’s training session will not be too full of such incidents…

* * *

At the same time down the path, Caster listened in, her large ears being able to pick up every scrap of their conversation effortlessly.

‘ _Oh Master, you didn’t have to do that, you know…_ ’ She thought to herself as the two finished. ‘ _I was just teasing her a bit. She would’ve gotten over it herself…Well, maybe I was a bit too harsh… And in the process unwittingly setting up a flag there…I’ll have to be careful not to let that happen again, mm-hmm…_ ’ She tapped her chin as she let her thoughts wander **for** a bit.

‘ _In any case, My Master seems to be a lot more fun this time…_ ’

“No, bad fox, bad!” She chided herself before she let her thought finish, shaking her head rapidly. “You’re not supposed to think about it anymore!”

Just at that moment, her ears picked up Saber's steps coming close, their Master behind her.

“Well, I’ll just enjoy myself for now then.” She whispered, forgetting her previous thoughts, sauntering off slowly down the path so her dear Master, and fun-to-tease partner, could catch up to her.

* * *

Mihara sighed as he watched over the pot of steaming curry.

The training session ended roughly at about 4 in the afternoon, but what he and his Servants forgot to take into account, was the time it took to climb back _up_ the path, and the monsters they inevitably met along the way. Eventually, they reached the exit sometime close to 6, the golden glow of the afternoon flooding the virtual sky.

Luckily, the side-entrance of the school, like almost everything else, had its function converted into something else entirely: An access point for Masters to immediately return back to their Private Residence. As soon as Mihara returned, he set about cooking the promised dinner for his Servants.

“Well, I suppose today was fairly fulfilling.” He thought aloud to himself as he picked up his terminal from a side-table.

On it listed the spoils for the day. Along with the flock of oversized birds, they had encountered a number of other programs resembling oversized wild animals; all of which Caster and Saber managed to dispatch without any trouble.

In total, the bounty they had racked up amounted to close to 3,000 PPT, along with some free Ether Shards that the programs were carrying for whatever reason...

‘ _This is getting more and more like some kind of action role-playing game isn’t it?_ ’ He couldn’t help but think to himself wryly as he flipped through the records.

Saber didn’t cause much more of a fuss after their little talk, and Caster continued being her bubbly self. Though, on occasion Mihara could catch a very complicated expression on her face that barely lasted for a few moments before disappearing. But for whatever reason, she refused to even mention it, let alone hint at it.

“Well, I’ll leave it to her if she wants to tell me anything.” He sighed again. “Man, having those two around feels as though I’m taking care of two kids always bickering…Where the heck did my youth go?” Regardless of his complaining, he still picked up the ladle and proceeded to stir the contents of the pot.

“Mmm…Still a bit more, I think.” He said to himself as he taste-tested it. “I’ll leave Saber and Caster alone for a little while longer…”

Speaking of his two Servants, they had both deigned to occupy a room each for their private use…Although Caster was, for some reason or another, adamant about staying in the same room as himself. Still, he managed to persuade her, with a lot of hassle, out of that terrifying idea and let her use the room next door to his.

Saber on the other hand wasn’t as fussy. Apparently to her all the rooms looked exactly the same; small, dreary, and in need of severe refurbishment as she had said before in the school. As a result, she picked the room across the corridor from his own without complaint.

As he replayed the series of events with a smile on his face, a quick floor-plan of the house drew itself into his mind.

The house had a modern Japanese style to it, with much of the flooring being polished wood, the sole exception being the kitchen and dining room. Those featured traditional tatami mats and sliding rice-paper doors for each of the entrances.

As a whole, the house had a vague T-shape, with a corridor extended through the core of the entire building, except for the right wing which contained the kitchen and dining room. His room occupied the bottom-right corner of the T’s base and the rooms his Servants occupied were nearby. Much of the house, including the left wing, had empty rooms; apparently there was enough space to house at least five more people.

‘ _God knows why there’s so much space here in this house…_ ’ He thought as he remembered about the floor plan further.

The house also had two gardens, one larger than the other. The larger one was situated on the left side of the house, enclosed by the left wing and the outer walls of the house. It reminded him of a Japanese Sand Garden: a few polished stones and leafless trees stood in a small sea of sand, with intricate patterns drawn into it. The smaller one he could access directly from his room or the kitchen, enclosed by the right wing and outer walls of the house again. This one was what one would expect of a normal garden, with a single small tree in its centre, and several flower beds surrounding it.

“Well, I suppose I see where my Servants are coming from, seeing as this ridiculously huge house is almost devoid of furniture…” He muttered to himself as he stirred the pot again absent-mindedly. “Though I have no idea when I’ll be able to go looking for furniture to decorate thehouse…”

‘ _That’s right…_ ’ He thought as his voice trailed off. ‘ _I’m stuck in this strange War, with only my two Servants to help me…Even worse, I have no clue about my designated enemies, and with only half the time to prepare to fight against them… And when the time comes… Can I really tell my Servants to land that finishing blow…?_ ’

“No, no…” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t think that far ahead…What I need to do now is find out how am I supposed to support my Servants in battle. Since I know what’ll happen if I try interfering directly, that’s out of the question…” He smiled wryly to himself as he remembered his close shave with death again. He tasted his creation.

“Hmm, that should be enough…” He thought out loud. “I’ll try and think about this again after I get some of this in me… I'll think about it later, when I'm not hungry, but first…”

Quickly he turned off the stove and closed his eyes.

‘ _I’m supposed to have some kind of ‘connection’ with my Servants…_ ’ He thought as he remembered what he had been told.

Slowly, he focused his mind on his body, attempting to sense anything that could be out of the ordinary. And very quickly, he discovered two strange ‘strings’, for lack of a better word, connected to him. Slowly he traced them from his body, out of the kitchen and down the corridor leading to, as he had suspected, the rooms his Servants occupied.

‘ _Okay, let’s try this…_ ’ He thought to himself as he focused on the strings again.

“ ** _Saber, Caster…Can you hear me?_** ”

“ ** _Yes, Master?_** ” Saber’s curt voice echoed directly into his mind.

“ ** _Yes, my dear Master!_** ” Caster’s bubbly voice also came in a split second later. { _Is something wrong?_ }

“ ** _No, no._** ” He fumbled with his thoughts for a moment, trying to get used to this strange way of communication. “ ** _I was trying to test out the connection between us for a moment, to see if I could use it properly. In any case, dinner’s ready, so could the both of you come down to the dining room?_** ”

_“ **Wonderful; I was starting to get a little bored in here.**_ ” Saber replied in her usual tone.

“ ** _You could’ve asked me if you wanted help in preparing dinner, Master…_** ” Caster replied in turn.

“ ** _Well…Think of this as thanks for your hard work for today._** ” He replied. “ ** _In any case, come over quick before the food gets cold._** _”_ With that said, he unfocused his attention on his Servants, cutting the connection before turning to preparing the table.

‘ _That would be very useful out on the field, if I didn’t have to expend so much energy and time setting up, and maintaining, the connection…_ ’ He thought to himself as he did so. ‘ _Well, another thing to add to my long list of things to get used to I guess…_ ’

* * *

The dining table used in the house was one where the diners must sit on the floor to eat. While Caster and Mihara were used to this, Saber wasn’t quite as ready to sit on the floor and eat, being used to have a normal seat at the table. Still, she was somewhat intrigued by this new custom, as she eventually decided to try it out.

If there was anything Mihara learned from eating dinner with his Servants, it was that they could eat. A lot. Saber more so _,_ as the amount she ate was unexpected of her small frame. Even more horrifying to him, was that she even asked whether the house sported a _vomitorium_ somewhere, so that she could eat even more!

Though admittedly, Mihara had no idea what a vomitorium was, he could certainly hazard a guess.

“Well, it was only in the off-chance that there was one in this house.” She replied at his and Caster’s dumbfounded expression. “Though from what I have seen, I was expecting such an answer.”

“…How very crude.” Was all Caster could say.

“…Well, I assume it was to your liking at least?” Their Master piqued up after a while, trying to steer the conversation towards a topic more suited for the dining table.

“I am surprised that such a simple dish can contain so many subtle flavours.” She responded. “Well, considering the differences in ingredients available from my time and now, that much I should have expected. But, I will give praise when it is due: Tonight’s meal was most appealing for me.”

“That’s good to hear, although it would’ve been better if you had left some for tomorrow…” Mihara replied, looking somewhat astonished at the empty pot.

“How so?” She asked. “Is it not polite to finish all that you are given at the dinner table? **I** s it not good to enjoy such simple things as a good meal to the utmost?”

“Well, yes…” He began. “But, I remember _hearing_ somewhere that curry tastes better if you left it overnight.”

“…I find it difficult to believe that something like this can taste better than it already does by leaving it alone.” She replied, looking at him sceptically.

“Well, there was **a** way we could have tested that theory, but it seems that’ll be for another time…” He collected the cutlery from the table, carrying it over to the kitchen sink and leaving it there as he continued the conversation. “How was it for you, Caster?”

“Oh, anything Master makes for me will taste delicious!” She replied with her usual energy. “Though I still find it very surprising that you actually remember how to cook.”

“Thank you for your compliments. And yes, I suppose human memory is a very peculiar thing, isn’t it?” Mihara smiled wryly.

“Next time though I’d really appreciate it if-” Caster began again.

“No.” He already stopped her mid-sentence, knowing what she intended to say.

“What? Why?” She asked, looking upset at his rapid refusal.

“Simply because I can’t do anything else here.” Mihara answered, somewhat disappointed in himself as he returned to the table, the cutlery placed in the sink. “I understand that I’m dead weight on the battlefield, so at least let me do this much to thank you for protecting me.”

“At least you understand your position.” Saber nodded to herself. “However, that isn’t exactly the only problem we have at current.”

“… _Can you be more specific_?” He asked, turning serious. As he had said before, he was dead weight during any fight. He had no wish to make his lack of ability increase the chances of his Servant’s defeat in any battle.

“While I hate to tell you this, I must.” She began, serious as well. “While we were in the Arena, I found I could not access my full powers.”

“Surprisingly, the same can be said for me, Master.” Caster added. “It feels as though the amount of prana I’m receiving **i** s been constrained by something, so my spells aren’t working at their full potential.”

“Prana?” Mihara asked [somewhat confused], _even_ though he understood that something, _somewhere_ was hampering his Servant’s true abilities.

“Hmm, _it seems you still don't remember that even after we all the running around we did_.” Caster commented, somewhat perturbed.

“To keep it simple, originally Servants were summoned to the Holy Grail War and kept in that world thanks to their Master's prana.” Saber answered her Master in her usual, superior tone.

“…Oh, I think I remember this bit now…” Mihara replied after a somewhat lengthy pause, the knowledge suddenly resurfacing in his mind again as it did countless times today. “The amount the Master can supply also determines the abilities the Servant can use during battle, isn’t it?”

“Not only that, but the overall strength of the Servant as well as their abilities are determined by the amount supplied.” Caster added on.

“Hmm, so there’s something wrong with the flow from Master to Servant, in this case then?” He asked as he considered the implications of this.

“That, and another more obvious problem.” Saber answered, before looking pointedly at Caster. “You are being forced to spread your already meager supply between two Servants at once. Though, at the moment there is nothing you can do about that, according to what the Priest said.”

“That’s true as well, isn’t it?” Mihara scratched his head, wondering if there was solution to this.

“Let me see if I understand. I’m kind of like a large container holding prana?” Mihara began trying to draw up an accurate example to get his head around it. “And from that container, twopipesare supposedly transferring prana to both of you. But right now, there is only one, very thin pipe supplying both faucets, which are in turn only open partway?”

“Yep, that’s about it.” Caster confirmed. “Still, it isn’t entirely your fault though, Master. I suppose you could also see this as a case of learning to walk before running, so to speak?” She added on, trying to cheer him up.

“Whatdo you mean?” He asked her, even though he had a suspicion of what she was getting at.

“Well, you aren’t exactly used to fighting yet.” She began counting off. “And your magic circuits probably aren’t functioning at full capacity yet, considering you’ve lost most of your memories. After a while, you should start get the hang of things, and then those faucets of yours should open up fully on their own. Hopefully at some point each will get their own dedicate pipeline too.”

“So essentially, as I get used to fighting and living in this world, then this problem will solve itself?” Mihara asked to confirm his thoughts.

“Hm, that sounds about right.” Saber answered him this time. “Well, it is a mostly trivial matter, I suppose. For everyone was a novice once, there is no shame in that. In fact, the prospects of what you may grow into are exciting instead.” He nodded in acceptance of her words as she smiled to herself.

“Well then, what’s our plan of action for tomorrow?” Caster asked.

“First off, I’d like to hit the school library first thing in the morning.” Mihara replied. “I’m not sure what will happen, so most of the morning is free apart from that. Since there’s supposed to be no fighting allowed in the school or downtown, I think it’ll be fine if the both of you were to do something else while I stay researching in the library.”

“Then, at lunch time I’ll need the two of you to come with me to that bulletin board where our…opponents…will be announced.” He hesitated at the word, still not sure how to feel about the situation.

“I’d like to hit the Arena at some point the same time as today. Hopefully we can explore more [of the floor] than today before heading back home. I’ll probably end up cooking the same thing for dinner as today, if that is alright with the both of you…?”

“Sounds good to me, My dear master!” Caster replied.

“Understood, Praetor.” Saber nodded.

‘ _I’d better cook everything I have left in the fridge if I want to have some leftovers to test that theory._ ’ He thought wryly to himself as his Servants voiced their consent. ‘ _Hm, that means I’ll probably have to go and find more ingredients the day after tomorrow…Since none of us actually_ needs _to eat, I don’t need to worry about buying or cooking things all the time._ ’

“Oh, one more thing…” He began speaking again, scratching his head in light embarrassment. “If it’s possible, could the two of you just address me by my name, instead of Master or the like? Mihara’s fine, without any honorifics.”

“…I have no qualms about it, but why so?” Saber asked.

“And here I thought you like it when I call you Master, Master” Caster immediately began complaining, repeating the word as if to emphasise the importance of it to her. And clearly, she herself seemed to enjoy saying it.

“Well if you don’t want to that’s fine…” He began. “But, well…It just seems very impersonal, as though you were purposely trying to avoid saying my name out loud because it’s really humiliating being related to me. Well, that and if enemies started hearing the various titles you call me, then they could start getting hints on your identities as well.”

‘ _Yeah, like ‘Praetor’…_ ’ He thought to himself as he let his words sink in. ‘ _While it does sound cool certainly, it’s certainly not a common word to use…I’m going to have to remember to look that up at some point soon._ ’

“That is reasonable enough, Mihara.” Saber nodded in acceptance of his logic.

“Mu, well I suppose I can’t deny the fact that it sounds just so impersonal, but calling me Caster’s just as equally impersonal…” Her colleague on the other hand didn’t seem to want to let it go so easily.

“This and that are two different things.” He replied curtly. “Your true name is far more valuable to keep a secret from others as compared to mine.”

“Hmm… I guess it can't be helped.” She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “Well, I hope to continue working with you then, Mihara-sama!”

‘ _I guess we’ve reached a compromise._ ’ He thought, before speaking again.

“Alright, thank you very much for today” He stood up and bowed to his two seated Servants. “And thank you for giving me an evaluation of how things are for today. I’d like it if we could have this sort of discussion over dinner tomorrow as well.”

“Thank you for the meal.” Saber replied, standing up herself. “Then, I will retire to my quarters for the night.”

“Thanks for the meal as well, Mihara-sama!” Caster repeated, standing up as well. “Would you need help with the dishes?”

“No, it’s fine.” He smiled at her offer to help again. “I’ll be done with them quickly anyway, so please rest up in your rooms for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be hitting the Arena again, and I’ll be counting on both of you, so it’s best if you rest.”

“Well, if you say so then …” She answered, somewhat reluctantly as she muttered something about ‘Masters’ and ‘Servants’ and ‘remembering one’s position on the ladder’.

Caster and Saber returned to their rooms without any more fuss as he bid them goodnight again.

‘ _That’s kind of…archaic, isn’t it?_ ’ He thought as he went back to the kitchen to do the dishes, turning Caster’s mumbled words around in his mind.

* * *

“Haah.” Saber sighed as she let her body fall back into the red velvet couch as her eyes scanned her, rather empty room.

As of now, it consisted only of a single large bed pushed up against the wall to the right from where she sat. The burnished wooden floor was satisfactory, although it seemed odd to one such as her, who was used to a solid marble floor. Across from her, the wooden door leading to the outside corridor stood, while above her and embedded into half the roof, was a large window leading out to the empty sky.

“Whoever designed this house must have some sort of ulterior motive placing it there, instead of the wall.” She spoke to nobody in particular as she turned her head to look at the empty stone wall behind her. “Though, that in itself is a good thing, since then I can enjoy the stars without hassle…”

Leaning back, she tilted her head to enjoy the virtual moonlight shining through her window, the small white stars shining brightly around the moon, both brightly contrasting the dark of the night.

‘ _I should ask Mihara to find something to decorate this dreary room._ ’ She thought as she imagined how her room could look like. Her thoughts then changed to the things she saw today while walking around town. ‘ _I’m not sure I’ll have much of a chance to enjoy something past this week anyway._ ’

“Saber, can I come in?” She heard a voice coming from the other side of the door after a while, interrupting her thoughts abruptly.

“…Enter, Caster.” She replied as she sat up straight, allowing the grudge she still held against the fox to creep into her voice.

“Aw, come on Saber.” The fox replied as she came in, closing the door behind her. “Don’t be such a sour grape after just a little bit of teasing.”

“You made me look like a fool, twice, and in front of our Master no less!” She couldn’t help but let her voice rise, even as Mihara’s words today in the Arena came back to her. “How can you still tell me not to be sour after such humiliation!?”

“Fine fine, you’re right…” The fox conceded as she put up her hands in defeat. “Perhaps I was a bit over the top today, so I promise I won’t let it happen again…Can I take a seat by the way?”

Saber couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at her partner, wondering as to why she would deign to visit her at this hour. Regardless, she gestured to the bed that was still unused, indicating that she could use it.

“Thank you!” The fox made sure to take off her geta-shoes before sauntering over, letting herself collapse face-first into the feather-stuffed bed. “Aahh, this is really comfortable!” She sighed as she sank in. “Interested in trading beds? I’m pretty sure the SE.RA.PH’ll let Mihara reprogram the rooms for us.”

“Knowing your erratic nature…” Saber began, ignoring her partner as she decided to voice her thoughts directly. “Coming into someone else’s room to steal their bed is not beyond you. But still, I can’t help but wonder what your true intentions are by coming here.”

“Mm, I suppose you really aren’t one for much small-talk.” Caster replied, sitting up properly on the bed with her legs folded beneath her bright orange tail wagging slowly behind her in time with her fox ears. “Or perhaps you’re the type that starts opening up a bit after the first few encounters instead?”

“Explain yourself already, Caster.” Saber demanded, her patience was already thin when her partner walked in, with what had happened today still weighing on her mind. Any further and it was going to snap.

“Oh come now, Saber.” The fox began again. “Can’t we just take a little moment of our lives to get better acquainted with each other?”

“And why would I wish to acquaint myself with a trickster fox like you?” Saber couldn’t help but spit out the extra insult; it was only right she got this chance anyway after what she had suffered, why would she waste it?

“Mu, I’ll ignore that comment for now, for both our sakes…” The fox replied, somewhat disgruntled. “…And for our Master’s sake.”

“What of him?” Saber couldn’t help but ask. “It is only the first day, and I do not feel that he has done anything particularly wrong. Well, I suppose he should stop running around so much and relax a bit more, as the real work is yet to come after all.”

“Hm, I honestly think he’s doing a bit more than just running around as you say…” The fox commented, looking at the closed door out of the room, their Master only a few metres away. “I think, he’s just burying himself with work and study to run away from the situation entirely, under the false pretext of ‘preparation’...”

“…Whether he chooses to avoid the situation or not, is his choice.” Saber began as she mulled over her partner’s words. “But come what may, the strength of his will to fight will be tested come the end of this week, as time waits for no man. Preparation is always good for such things.”

“The second-last bit is what I’m afraid of.” Her partner replied with a serious face, as she turned to the woman dressed in red still reclining on the couch. “Let me ask you something, Saber.”

“…What is it?” She asked.

“Do you believe our Master can actually pass the first round?” Caster asked, a question that even Saber herself had been wondering throughout the day.

“…Do you know who you are talking to?” Saber replied after a pause, smiling. “Hmm, of course you do not. And in the same thought _,_ I have no clue as to who I am talking to either.”

“Is this payback for earlier?” Her colleague asked with a slightly sour face.

“Regardless, I am confident he will get through.” Saber continued, disregarding her partner’s comment. “My strength will be more than enough to cover for any deficiencies he may have. And what he does lack now, I know that it will grow in him, with time.”

“You seem to have placed a lot of trust in him already, Saber.” Caster asked, a slightly bemused face on her.

“Well, what choice is there?” She asked in reply, shrugging her shoulders. “I have been summoned by him for this Holy Grail War, alongside you somehow. I may not have much faith in him as a competent Magus, but I will face the music, and I intend to put my faith with whoever wields me as their sword.”

“…And with that said, I will also, unerringly, lead them to victory.” Saber finished with a confident smirk.

“…I see...” Caster replied after a period, contemplating her words. “Hm, hm…I never really thought of it that way.” She nodded with a smile as she looked at Saber again.

“But still, like you I intend to put 110% for my Master, whether he does have a chance at this or not. I suppose we can get along on some things.”

“…So that was what you came here for?” Saber asked as she raised her eyebrow.

“I’d like us to get to know each other better.” Caster stated clearly with a smile. “Or at the very least, enough so that whenever I decide to tease you, you won’t throw such childish tantrums like in the Arena earlier today.”

“Wha-!” She reared up to as tall as she could while still seated on the couch – which wasn’t very much – at Caster’s words, remembering the conversation between her and Mihara earlier in the Arena.

‘ _I suppose her large ears are not for show then!_ ’ She thought guardedly. ‘ _I need to be careful about having her nearby when I hold conversations I do not want her to hear!_ ’

“There, you see what I mean!” Her partner waved a hand with a small chuckle at Saber’s reaction. “Well, I suppose that’s enough bonding for one night though. Would you like to do something tomorrow morning together? Shopping perhaps? Master says we’re free then.”

“…I think I would rather leave that until after I get used to your antics.” Saber couldn’t help but deny the invitation, even though she herself did want to go out and find some decorations. Or at least, some more clothes to wear when she wasn’t on the battlefield.

“Mm, I suppose you would.” Caster rubbed her chin mischievously before continuing. “Well, I’ll come again tomorrow if we aren’t busy. Or would you like to come see how my room looks like instead?”

“…I’ll decide whether paying you a visit is worth my time or not tomorrow.” She answered vaguely. “Still, I suppose I found this conversation mildly entertaining. I should say I look forward to working with you again tomorrow, Caster.”

“The same to you, Saber!” Caster beamed as she jumped down from the bed onto the floor. “Goodnight!”

With her well-wishes declared, she shut the door in a flash, going back to her own room, still immersed in her good mood.

“Haah…” Saber couldn’t help but sigh as soon as her partner’ footsteps disappeared from earshot, quickly followed by the sound of a door shutting closed. “I didn’t expect my first War to be like this, so full of surprises…”

‘ _Still though, this should be interesting at the very least._ ’ She smiled to herself at the thought, before moving over to her bed.

‘ _…I should take up her offer soon of going down to town for shopping soon though…._ ’ She thought as she made ready to retire for the night. ‘ _This dress is a bit…uncomfortable to sleep with…_ ’


	7. Week 1 Day 2

**Act 1: Scene 4**

**5 Days Remaining**

_**Morning** _

* * *

Mihara walked briskly up the road from his private residence to the school building, the morning sun bathing his surroundings in a bright yellow glow. Behind him, he could feel the presence of his two Servants who had decided to accompany him to the school first, before deciding as to what they would do for the remainder of the morning.

Dawn had come quickly after he had engrossed himself in discovering the full extent of his terminal's functions for the entire night. Perhaps the most important of his discoveries was the 'Matrix' within his terminal that contained some information about his Servants, as well as empty space for what he assumed to be his opponent's Servants.

' _Well at the moment it is pretty empty, but that's to be expected._ ' Mihara thought to himself as he reviewed what he had learned over the night. ' _My Servants' entries contain only their class, some of their skills and '_ stat parameters.' _I'd better double-check that as soon as I get to the library first. Hopefully it'll fill out more as I get to know them better._ '

While he wasn't completely able to believe Sakura Matou's words yesterday morning, about his artificial body not requiring sleep, his level of wakefulness left no room for doubt.

Still, he couldn't help but yawn as he thought about the hours of sleep he had missed.

"That was a pretty big yawn there, Master." Caster's voice echoed. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"No, no." He shook his head with a slightly embarrassed smile as he continued walking. "I'm just thinking about all the work I'm going to have to do."

"Indeed, there is much to be done, Mihara." Saber's haughty voice replied. "Still, we can work around that over time."

"Thanks for the encouragement." He replied grimly. "Actually, what will you do while I investigate the library?"

"Oh, I thought I'd take a quick look around the school for a bit!" Caster replied. "Though I may just be a program made by the Moon Cell, I'm still curious as to how things have changed."

"Hmm, I was thinking that might be a worthwhile endeavour as well." Saber added. "Certainly, there must have been quite a large leap from my time to now; and I would be most interested in finding them first-hand."

"Alright, alright." He sighed, with no desire to get drawn into a conversation about the drastic changes between the 'modern' era and the era his Servants may have come from. Even though he could remember a decent amount of the modern world, and some of its history, he'd rather not remind himself that he couldn't remember any of his _own_ history.

"So I take it you'll be wandering around the school while I go and look things up in the library?"

"Yes, that sounds about right, Mihara." Saber confirmed.

"Alright; I'm expecting the, notification, of our opponents to be posted up by about lunchtime today. Could you find me at the library's entrance at about, say, 3 or so hours from now?"

"Yep, will do Master!" Caster replied with her usual energy, as Mihara continued on his way to the school talking with two invisible women.

* * *

The door to the library slid open with a soft scratch, the noise echoing slightly uncomfortably in what was supposed to be a place of silent study. Slowly, Mihara stepped into the room, as he carefully observed this new locale.

The school library was large, large enough to cover the entire floor of the school building's right wing. Shelves and shelves of books were lined up in formation, perpendicular to the wall and directly to Mihara's left. On the opposite end of the room, glass windows lined the wall, the morning light shining through to illuminate several desks and chairs lined up, with the occasional computer interspaced.

From where he stood, he could see the occasional black-clad NPC, and the more irregularly dressed Masters that had come here for research, though the population of both was quite small. Directly to his right, there was a small wooden alcove with another computer. And seated within it, looking particularly disinterested and bored, was a young western man.

He was dressed in black; the distinctive colour for NPC's staffing the school building. His blond head of hair just barely concealed his green-coloured eyes, downcast and concentrating on what Mihara noticed was a sort of console game. By the looks of it, it seemed as though this NPC was in charge of keeping watch over the library, but it was more interested in playing games rather than doing his job.

At the sound of Mihara sliding the door back closed again, the man looked up at Mihara. While the newcomer was certain both of them had never met, the NPC at least recognised him.

"Ooo, so _you's_ the 'Ghost in the Machine' all us NPC's been talkin' 'bout eh?" The man spoke as he stood up, taking a closer look at Mihara as he paused for a while. "Hmm, I was expectin' somebody taller."

"…'Ghost in the Machine'?" Mihara chose to ask, instead of taking him up at his last comment.

"Oops, silly me." The man let loose a hearty laugh. "I ain't supposed ta tell yas anythin' 'bout that, but, well…" He looked around the library, before beckoning Mihara to lean in closer, whispering into his ear as he did so.

"If I did, Id'a hafta kill ya, if ya get's me drift!" He let loose another thunderous laugh at his joke as Mihara could sense the eyes of the other Masters turning towards them.

"Umm… alright, I… won't ask then." He stumbled over his words, unsure as to how to reply. While he was curious as to what he may have meant by 'ghost in the machine', Mihara knew that there were more important things he needed to focus on, at least for now.

"Right well, you's look'n like you's got somethin' more important than talkin' with this 'ere NPC." The man changed the subject after Mihara's reply, apparently trying to be helpful. "While I ain't lookin' it, I'm in charge of this 'ere library. So, whatcha lookin' fer here?"

"Erm, well…" Mihara couldn't help but scratch his head as he collected his response first. "Could you point me towards the history section?"

"Oh, makin' sure to do yer research eh?" The man grinned. "Well as they's says, 'knowledge is power', and this 'ere Library's a good a place's any to start with. History section's far back from 'ere, can't miss it. Largest section in this 'ere library fer good reason as I'm sure you's knows." He gestured around the corner of the nearest bookshelf to the far end of the library. Most of the Masters were gathered there, Mihara noticed as he looked.

"Right, thank you." He nodded before turning around and moving on.

"Anytime, friend." The man responded, before Mihara could just faintly hear the sounds of his game again.

' _While I know my Servants don't want to tell me who they are, I should at least research a bit into their background…_ ' Mihara thought to himself as he made his way through the library. ' _At least I do have two clues: Saber's referencing of 'Praetor', and a 'Vomitorium', which I should probably look up in detail… And Caster's probably some sort of fox spirit, probably from Japan. I can at least start with that I suppose._ '

As he made his way past the shelves, he caught a glimpse of a young woman browsing a bookshelf.

She was different from almost everyone else he had met here, both NPC and Master. He didn't know what it was. She was certainly not as plain as an NPC would be, but neither did she seem to have the same air about her as a Master would.

' _Could she be one of those 'Specialist Contractors' I heard about yesterday?_ ' Mihara thought, as he couldn't help but stare in her for longer than was necessary.

She was dressed in a white shirt that reached just past her elbows, a red bow tied at its collar that matched the long, pleated red dress she wore. With a pale complexion that contrasted with her long black hair and the white hairband she wore, Mihara really couldn't believe that she was a Master who had willingly signed up to kill others.

As though reacting to his stare she turned to look in his direction, revealing a pair of aqua-blue eyes that had somewhat confirmed his suspicions: Nowhere in there could he see a hint of danger.

It was almost as if she didn't even recognise him as another Master, as another threat. Perhaps, she was more preoccupied with worrying about something else.

"Er, good morning." He greeted without thinking as he bobbed his head down briefly in greeting.

"Mm, good morning." The reply came back as the young woman returned the greeting, before walking past him. Mihara watched her as she left the library.

' _Well, that was odd._ ´ Was all he could think as he saw her turn the corner, before the sliding of the doors could be heard. ' _But I'm pretty sure she was muttering something else I couldn't hear about… Never mind. I've other things to worry about._ '

Dismissing the encounter, he made his way into the depths of the library to begin his preliminary research.

* * *

**_Afternoon_ **

* * *

Unfortunately, all his efforts only yielded minimal results.

Mihara sighed to himself as he put the most recent book away, a 'brief' overview of Japanese mythology and folklore.

' _Well, I shouldn't have expected to be able to discern who they were just by this alone anyway…_ ' He thought. ' _But I don't think I know much more than when I entered._ '

From what he had learned yesterday and from the books within the library, he was able to deduce that Saber was Roman: Men and women who existed from around the 9th century BC to the 5th century AD. Her term of address, references to some strange dining habits, and her method of speech all give him the impression that she occupied a position of high stature during her time.

However, the fact that she was female made things extremely difficult for him to pinpoint any likely person. Barely knowing her personality only added to the already hard task.

' _Well, that's not entirely true._ ' He mused as he put a hand to his chin, recollecting all his knowledge ' _For starters, she's extremely imperious, that much is obvious. But where would I find someone matching her description in the textbooks?_ '

In the case of Caster, the keyword 'fox spirit' yielded a surprisingly broad range of results. So much so that he had just spent an hour or so reading books just to get an idea of their abilities and history.

' _Born from myths traceable to China and Korea, it's said that fox spirits can have up to nine tails. The more tails they have, then theoretically the older, wiser, and more powerful said spirit is._ ' He remembered reading. ' _Caster only has one tail, yet the power she has demonstrated has proven that even one tail is dangerously powerful._ '

After thinking for a short while, he took out his terminal and navigated through its functions.

He found the matrix screen that contained Caster's profile. It was broken up into 4 sections, entitled: 'Servant parameters and general information'; 'Servant keywords'; 'Servant skills'; and 'Servant history'.

The first section had Caster's parameters displayed clearly: Strength, Defence, Agility, Magic and Luck. Though he had seen them before, Mihara couldn't help but worry as he saw again that all five parameters were at E-rank, which apparently was the lowest according to some information he dug up from the library. Saber's parameters were no different either. But it was somewhat expected: His Servants did inform him last night that their skills were not even nearly as good as they should be.

The second section had a single word written atop an empty list. He guessed these keywords helped to pinpoint the true identity of the Servant. But the single word Mihara read, ' **Maleficium** ', was just so broad it may as well not have existed there. As he discovered, touching said word with his finger, a short description elaborating a bit more about the keyword came up on the screen. This particular description described how Caster could, in theory, create an entire army out of her tails. Well, that was when she had more than one.

The third section, was a list devoid of entries too, except for one; ' **Territory Creation [C]** '. By what Mihara could discern, this 'Skill section' listed all of the abilities that a Servant possessed. To make things more complicated for his inexperienced mind, any skill listed here also seemed to have a letter-rank associated with it, in the same format as their parameters. Again, touching the entry would bring up a short description. But this particular skill was mostly useless in Mihara's opinion. The description of the entry even stated that Caster had an almost extreme amount of difficulty using it due to her personality.

Not that Mihara even knew what this skill could do anyway.

The final section was completely empty, unlike everything else. Mihara wasn't exactly surprised. Without even knowing his Servant's true identity, he couldn't even hope to know even a smidgen bit of their history.

The same format of screens showed up when Mihara went to check on Saber's profile page.

On the first were the dreaded 5 E's, where upon seeing them Mihara mentally promised to do something about them as soon as possible.

On the second screen was a single keyword entry, ' **Aestus Estus: The Embryonic Flame** '. It was the name of her hand-crafted red sword. Just like on Caster's page, this meant almost nothing to Mihara.

The third screen had 2 skills written on there, instead of one as in Caster's. ' **Anti-Magic [C]** ', and ' **Migraine [B]** '.

The former skill's description implied that it granted some immunity to magic-based attacks. He guessed that this would become very important during battles. Unsettlingly, the rank of this skill in the description's words was ' _pathetically low, even by normal standards of the Saber class._ '

The latter skill seemed to grant a form of immunity to 'mental-based skills'. Either that, or the opposite, and she herself can't use mental-based skills. The description was particularly vague about it. Either way, Mihara believed he'd find out in due course what its real effect was during battle. Or perhaps this particular word, and its description may prove useful in later research about Saber's identity.

He couldn't help but sigh as he saw the fourth screen, again completely devoid of information. In all effect, it was a testament to the results of today's library-browsing: Nothing.

"A waste of time, but I suppose I at least have a little bit more information to go when fighting alongside them." He muttered to himself as he concluded his review. "Perhaps I'll have better luck uncovering more later after I get to know them better."

"Well lookie here." A familiar voice cracked through Mihara's musings as he snapped around to look at the newcomer.

It was the NPC in charge of the library, apparently making a round of the library while carrying his game console around with him.

"Done with yer researching already?" He asked. "Well, it's almost 12 now ain't it? Shouldn't you's be goin' off and findin' yer opponent's names already?"

"Well, yes but-" He began explaining, before he realised something. "Wait, how do you know of my situation?!"

"Of course." The librarian scoffed, taking his eyes off his console for a brief moment. "Whaddaya think we NPC's are anyway? We all be part of the SERAPH, 'aight? If it's about you Masters and the Holy Grail War, don't think we don't know what's goin' on with you all."

"Right, right." Mihara conceded, putting up his hands. He didn't need this NPC to start lecturing him any further right now; discerning what he was saying through his accent was certainly no easy task either.

"Well, I'm waiting for the notification on my Terminal." He answered, waving the piece of equipment in question. "When I get the notification then I'll go down and check it out."

"Oh, right." The librarian nodded. "And 'ere I thought you's be more excited 'bout this fight; most'o them other Masters seem so pumped for this that they even forget to prepare!

"Well I'm not exactly all that keen about this entire thing in the first place." Mihara couldn't help but pull a face as he expressed his reluctance to fight.

"Aw, come on, buck up!" The man stepped a bit closer before tapping his shoulder. "This 'ere's a once in a lifetime opportunity! Prove yerself ta be the best in the world! Dominate all yer competition! Win the Holy Grail and have yer most desired wish granted in the blink of an eye! Who in hell's name doesn't want that?!"

A brief moment of silence reigned after he shouted his last statement for the entire library to hear, before Mihara sheepishly put up his hand.

"Goddangit ya ain't supposed ta do that!" He shouted again after slapping his face in exasperation.

"Well I have to be completely honest." Mihara shrugged. "I don't really-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the terminal in his hand began to chime and vibrate softly.

"Eh, it's here!" The librarian exclaimed excitedly even as Mihara froze, petrified as his eyes widened. "C'mon, look at it!"

Slowly he brought the terminal to his face. And as he did so, two sentences typed themselves out on the screen in a plain, glowing blue font:

**The next round's combatants have been announced. Please report to the Courtyard Bulletin Board.**

He couldn't help but breath in deeply as the dreaded message typed itself out letter by letter across his terminal's screen.

"Ha ha! It's here!" The librarian shouted again. "Well, ya better get movin', don't wanna to keep yous away from the action too long!" He grinned before leaning back in his seat. "Don't just roll over and die a'ight? It's a disgrace to everyone else who entered this 'ere tourney."

"Right. Thanks." Mihara muttered as he plastered a somewhat weak smile over his face. He slid the terminal back into his pocket, before walking back towards the entrance and opening the door.

"Good luck to ya!" The librarian again waved energetically to him as the doors slid close behind him, the sound of the other Masters in the building drowning him and Mihara's thoughts out.

"Umu, it appears that the notification has arrived." Saber's voice echoed in his mind as Mihara sensed his Servants' presences next to him.

"And none too soon either, I was getting sooo bored." Caster moaned. "Have you found what you wanted to in that library, Master?"

"Yeah, I guess." he replied half-heartedly, too focused on what lay ahead to actually remember what he had read in the library. With heavy footsteps, he made his way down and out of the building to the designated point, his Servants following him dutifully.

* * *

Compared to yesterday, the area next to the bulletin board in the courtyard was decidedly less crowded. Mihara assumed that this was because most of the combatant announcements were already done yesterday. There were only a few people apart from him there, staring at that now-dreaded bulletin board.

It's size was nothing short of enormous. As it outlined the exact matchups for over 400 candidates, that shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, the immense crisp-white paper, along with the knockout chart scrawled across it in black ink was more than enough to intimidate Mihara, long before he even found his own name on it.

His terminal however, was not equally paralyzed. Within a few seconds of stepping up to the board, Mihara could hear its tell-tale chime signalling the arrival of a new message. And as he pulled it out, he saw the words that he had least wanted to see taken straight from the bulletin board, typed out in that same neon-blue lettering.

**Master**

**Mihara Hakuno**

**Versus**

**Master**

**Shun Fukui**

**And**

**Master**

**Shinji Matou**

**Battlefield: First Chimeric Lunar Sea**

"Impossible." He could only mutter one word as he saw the words written there, the remainder of his sentence echoing through his mind.

' _Shinji… He's my first opponent._ '

"Heh, so you're my first opponent?" A familiar, snide voice cut through the dark cloud that had descended around him. "I'm honestly surprised that you even managed to qualify."

Petrified, MIhara could do nothing as his friend-turned-opponent stepped up to his side to look at the board.

"But I guess everything's possible in this world." Shinji continued without looking at him. "Hey, you may even be the most powerful Magus here, so much so that even the SERAPH saw fit to pair you up with two opponents instead!" Finally, his smug face turned towards Mihara's unmoving form.

"I mean, what's up with that?" He continued. "You already drew a bad card when you got paired with me. There's no need to throw in that other worm is there? I mean, we both know who the strongest contender in this game is, don't we?" He burst out in mirthful laughter, ignoring Mihara's uncomfortable silence.

"So darling, let me get this straight." A foreign female voice filtered through Shinji's laughing. "Somehow, you've been put into a team with another Master, _other than me_ , and have to fight against a third Master?"

"Yes honey." A male voice replied somewhat uneasily.

"But, why?" The female voice asked again as Mihara turned his head slowly to look around the field, searching for the origin of the conversation.

There were two persons engaging in a light argument, a young man and woman both dressed in the brown Tsukumihara uniform. Sporting short black hair and an unblemished face with clear blue eyes that gave a sense of devotion, the male was of a similar height to him, give or take a few inches.

The woman in turn stood just a little higher than her male companion's mouth, while sporting almost blindingly blond hair that fell just to her chin. And framed between her locks, was a pair of crystal-clear blue eyes. Mihara could somewhat tell she was used to being pampered by what he assumed to be her lover. The way she pouted at him at the fact that they couldn't be together for each and every waking second was quite indicative.

"Oy; are you the guy who's supposed to be teamed up with me?" Shinji's shout cut through Mihara's evaluation, having found too the origin of the conversation.

"Hm?" The male turned his head upon hearing Shinji's call. "Ah, I know you!" He exclaimed. "You're the World-Famous Hacker; Shinji Matou, aren't you? The name's Shun. I'll be working with you for the coming week."

"Heh, you got that right." Shinji nodded, a wide smirk forming on his lips as he confirmed the newcomer's suspicions, his arms folded as his air of superiority only grew thicker. "Well then, you'll be with me against this little worm here." He cocked his head over to Mihara, who was still standing confused at this turn of events.

"Ah! Then you must be Mihara Hakuno." The young man took a step forward, his hand outstretched in greeting. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I will be your opponent for the coming week. Let's make this a good round, okay?"

"Huh! Er… Yes, yes, same to you too." Jolted out of his reverie, he grasped Shun's hand to return the greeting, though his words only trailed back into silence, having nothing else to say to his enemy.

' _I have to kill them._ ' It was all he could think.

"Hey, you!" The girl shouted behind them while Shun was introducing himself. "I could care less that you're supposed to be some hacking prodigy, ' _Shinji_ ', but if you're the one working with him at least call him by his name properly! It's _Shun_!"

"Heh, and now what's this cow mooing about?" The blue-haired boy replied, clearly seeing her like everyone else around him: Worse than dirt. And although Mihara knew to just take it and leave it, these newcomers probably didn't.

"Why you!" She cried. "I'm no cow! I'm much prettier than any stupid cattle! Fine then, my Servant, let's beat him to a pulp together and throw him out with the rest of the trash!"

"Do you really think you could beat me?" Shinji asked, his arrogance not wavering in the slightest. "I doubt you could even beat trash yourself! Still, if you want a fight I'd be more than willing to grant it!"

"Hey, hey, Manaka!" Shun quickly ran back to the girl in an attempt to restrain her. "You know fighting's not allowed outside of the Arena!"

"That's riiiight!" A new voice cut its way into the argument, its tone completely unsuited to the slowly building-tension. Mihara's gaze shifted to the voice, revealing itself to be none other than Taiga Fujimura.

"Hey, why are you all looking at me so stupefied?" She asked. "I wasn't gone for _that_ long you know! And I'm still part of the system! And an NPC!"

She put extra emphasis on the last statement, which immediately served to defuse the situation in an instant. If there was an NPC around should a fight in a restricted area begin, a penalty, in whatever shape that could take, would be unavoidable.

"Ergh, fine, whatever." The girl known as Manaka quickly dropped her challenge, not willing to be saddled with this any longer. She turned her attention to Shun. "Darling, should we get going now? The Arena and those triggers are waiting."

"Yes dear, I'll help out as much as I can." He replied, beaming at her as the two walked off to the Sports hall on the other side of the field, leaving the other three behind.

"Heh, I guess she wasn't brave enough to back up her words." Shinji said after he was sure the two were out of earshot. "Well in any case." He turned back to Mihara before continuing to speak in a clearly exaggerated manner.

"It pains me, the strongest Master here, to say this. From this point on, we're enemies. Got that Mihara? Don't let our 'former' friendship hold you back and let's keep things clean alright?"

Mihara's friend-turned-enemy then walked in the same direction the two lovers went, patting him on the back briefly as if to console him on the way.

"Hmph, his words reek of immaturity, and his stance is clearly supported by nothing more than an overinflated ego." Saber's voice groaned in Mihara's mind, clearly appalled at her first meeting with Shinji. "Still, his insults cannot be left unpunished. He must be thoroughly beaten through and through!"

"That disgusting, dirty little punk!" Caster muttered under her breath, her agitation clearly felt even though she was still invisible. "I swear, at the end of this week I'll grind that little guppy into chum and feed him back to the fishes!"

' _I guess there's at least one silver lining to this situation then._ ' The thought echoed faintly through Mihara's mind despite his grim outlook on the situation.

"I don't know much about that other extra though…" Caster continued. "He seems to be paying more attention to his 'dear darling' than the actual fight! Though, honestly I hope you'd do the same." Her voice slowly quietened down to inaudible levels, though Mihara was still too busy thinking of other things to take notice.

"That ignorance and carelessness of his will only get him killed." Saber replied, ignoring his silence. "What for do you waste your time for someone else when your own enemy has their sword pressed up to your neck? I don't think any of these fools see this War for what it truly is."

"Okay that's settled!" Taiga's voice drew Mihara out of the conversation his Servants were getting into. "Honestly, the preliminaries just ended and everyone's already causing trouble. Mihara!" She called him out, having something to say to him.

"Yes, Ms. Fujumura?" He replied, his student persona taking over.

"At least you're still the nice student you were from during the preliminaries, Mihara!" She noted with a smile. "I'm pretty sure you heard one of those three talking about Triggers right?"

"Yes, Ms. Fujimura." He replied politely. "Though I'm afraid I do not know what they are talking about."

' _And I don't want to honestly._ '

"I guessed as much, but no worries!" She replied energetically. "I had a feeling you didn't know, so I came out to find you, since Father Kotomine's probably too busy taking care of other Masters right now to do so himself." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking.

"Well, during the course of every week, all Masters are required to obtain 2 Triggers, or 'Cipher Keys'. I really don't know why the things have two names, but never mind that."

"And what happens if I do not find them before the end of the week?" Mihara asked.

"Well, you'll be refused entry to the Coliseum at the end of the week." His teacher replied. "And if that happens, you'll be automatically deleted." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, perhaps it'd be more frank to say you'll be killed."

"So there's this danger on top of being killed by another Master or one of those 'Monsters' in the Arena?" Mihara asked sceptical.

"Yep, that's riiight!" Her bright outlook contrasted with what she was saying, though she quickly noticed the look of worry covering Mihara's face. "Aww, don't look so worried. The two Triggers are scattered around the Arena, and you'd probably end up finding them if you just took the time to explore a bit. So no need to worry at all!"

"Even if you say that," He couldn't help but steal a glance at the Sports Hall, the entrance to the Arena. "Why did we get saddled with this extra work anyway? I mean, I already have my plate full enough as it is."

"Well, I think this is just one of those ideas Father Kotomine came up with for this Holy Grail War." She replied, putting a finger to her chin while trying to remember. "He said something about 'culling weak masters' or something like that."

"Just what I'd expect from that Priest…" Mihara muttered as he turned his eyes up in exasperation.

"Mm, I wouldn't put it past him to think up of some other things worse than that." Taiga replied. "Just be grateful he hasn't managed to yet. And speaking of being grateful, would you mind doing a teensy, tiiiny favour for me? After all I did go out of my way to tell you about the Triggers!"

"Well, I guess so, but-"

' _Isn't that your duty as an NPC actually?! Losing by default because an NPC didn't tell me about Triggers is just unfair to the extreme!_ '

"Aww come on!" She replied sensing his hesitation. "It isn't much. I just need you to fetch something from the Arena for me! You'd be willing to do this for your poor teacher, right? RIGHT?"

"O-Of course, Ms. Fujimura!" He stuttered, cracking under her pressuring.

"Thank you, thank you!" Taiga cried with glee. "You've made my day! So, my favourite kendo sword's up and disappeared ever since the preliminaries have ended. I stashed it in the supply room, but for some reason it got transferred into the Arena. As an NPC, I'm not allowed to go into the Arena, so I'm afraid I have to ask you to do this for me."

"Okay. So, how will I find it exactly then?" He asked.

Knowing how the Arena was like from his visit yesterday, finding a single kendo sword in that maze would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"Oh don't worry about that." She replied. "I'm not sure if you've noticed anything like this, but the Arena often has some items that don't belong in there."

"What do you mean about not 'belonging in there'?" Mihara asked again, looking at her quizzically.

"The Arena's environment is only meant to contain three things." She explained. "Monsters, Servants, and Masters. Everything else in there is considered an 'anomaly' so to speak. This includes items that can wind up there for some reason or another, which could include stuff you find around the city, and my kendo sword. I have no idea how they manage to get there, but they're usually locked up and isolated from the Arena in 'Item Folders' until they're deleted at the end of the week. Oh, I should probably mention that the Triggers are locked up in those Item Folders too."

' _This is starting to sound like a twisted Dungeon Crawler._ ' Mihara thought wryly as he listened to her explanation.

"Right, well my kendo sword should be in one of those, scattered about the Arena. I'll leave you to take care of it!" She stated after her explanation. "When you do find it, hand it to me. I'm usually around the School Campus making sure all the Masters don't get into a ruckus. And remember, everything's going to be deleted by the end of the week, so please get it for me before then!"

"I'll try my best, Ms. Fujimura." He nodded in acceptance of the job, his former teacher beaming at him before going off to continue her duties, whatever those may be.

"Geez, what is this supposed to be." He muttered as he glanced to the Arena, after Taiga had left the area. "On the exterior it all looks like some kind of game, yet on the inside we're all just toying with each other's lives…"

' _That's right, isn't it,_ ' His thoughts continued on even after his words had subsided. ' _Everyone's treating this like some sort of game. No one seems to understand just what's at stake here, and again I ask, when the time comes, will I really have to kill them?_ '

Shinji Matou, was his friend, perhaps in name only. Still, he had already lost one friend from the preliminaries, could he bear to lose another this time by his own hands?

And this Shun person. Though Mihara had never met him before, there was an even larger, more pressing question about him: Could Mihara really kill him and tear apart the love he shared for that girl?

' _Do I have the right to kill a friend, and a fellow human being? Do I have the right to tear up two lovers as though their relationship was nothing more than paper? Why do I have to kill them in the first place?_ ' Grim thoughts emerged in Mihara like so many skeletons in the closet.

' _With everyone making light of this situation, am I the only one that feels like I'm trapped in a living hell?_ '

* * *

_**Evening** _

* * *

Though reluctant after the revelation of who his enemies were, Mihara had no intention of dropping out by default because of his failure to collect these 'Triggers'.

Saying that, the Master and his two Servants stepped again into the Arena, the maze of cliffs greeting them once more. And within seconds, Mihara could hear Caster sniff the air, something catching her attention.

"Hmm?" She muttered to herself before speaking clearer. "Mihara, I smell desperation and cheap cologne. That smarmy little punk's still in the Arena somewhere!" She took a quick sniff again, Mihara seeing her ears twitch about, trying to pick up any more information.

"I also smell worry and idiocy too. Perhaps he's gotten himself into a pickle as well?" She continued after a pause.

"I think your sense of smell is not as good as you think it to be, Caster." Saber said, rebutting her colleague's conclusion as she folded her arms, looking out into the network of cliffs. "I sense two Servants in the Arena today, Mihara. It is very likely that both our opponents for this round are here somewhere. We should exercise caution."

"May I remind too, to not forget to look out for those Triggers as well as this 'Kendo Sword' that NPC was telling us about." She continued. "It would be sheer stupidity were we to lose the first round because of carelessness. Plus, I admit I am interested in what she has to offer us for fulfilling her request."

"Roger, Saber." Mihara replied, his eyes scanning the maze below with slight trepidation. "I guess we should go say hello to our opponents."

"My thoughts exactly, Master." Caster replied, punching her palm in anticipation as Saber nodded, their weapons appearing out of ether as the trio stepped down into the labyrinth below.

It took quite a bit of wandering, as well as fighting through some weak programs before Mihara caught sight of his opponents. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say he heard his opponents.

"I'm telling you man, stop worrying!" Shinji's voice rang out around the chasm. "Your girl can take care of herself just fine. If she couldn't then I got no idea why you'd want to go out with her anyway!"

"Hm. It looks like our enemies are already quarrelling." Caster whispered as the three stopped, their enemies nearby. "This could prove to be advantageous, Master. We should listen in and see what we can find out." Her Master nodded in response, remaining on high alert in an attempt to pinpoint their exact location.

"But we were supposed to go into the Arena together though." A second less-familiar voice, Shun he guessed, replied somewhat insecurely. "Will she be able to collect the triggers without me?"

"Gah! Focus on your own triggers instead of worrying about her!" Shinji shouted, exasperated. "Why the hell did I get saddled with an amateur like you?!"

"I guess you're right…" Shun replied, though clearly still worried somewhat. "I can help her out with finding more info on her opponent back on campus anyway."

"Ugh, you still don't get it." Shinji's faint muttering barely reached them.

"Yes, I admit I still have a lot to learn." His companion replied. "Especially from someone like you, Shinji. Your hacking skills are the envy of everyone back home you know? I'm really appreciative of this chance."

"…Heh, well of course." Shinji replied, his characteristic overconfidence filling his voice as Mihara couldn't help but imagine his nose growing longer. "Well I mean, a genius' bound to have such a wide following it kinda turns into a hassle sometimes. Be grateful you got a chance to work with someone like me."

"Oh, of course Shinji!" Shun said eagerly. "I'm sure I'll learn a lot from working with you."

"If you want to learn anything from me, then start calling me Matou-Sensei!"

"Oh boy." Mihara couldn't help but whisper to himself as he slapped a palm to his forehead in exasperation, Caster snickering at the foolishness of the name. "This is going to bloat his ego even more."

"Matou Sensei?" Shun asked to hear how it sounded. "Hm, doesn't sound too bad, I guess?"

"Hmph." Now it was Saber's turn to react to Shinji's foolish spouting.

"What's wrong, Saber?" Mihara asked, sensing her agitation increase.

"No, it is nothing Mihara." She replied, before crouching down and gripping her sword more tightly. "More importantly, I believe the enemy Servants may have- "

"I'm afraid I've gotta cut the little Teacher-Student bonding time now." A female voice cut through their talk. "I think we gots ourselves a couple o' sneaky, eavesdropping rats somewhere near."

"Hah!" A deep, gruff male voice laughed. "You only recognise their presence now, pirate?"

"Oya, oya, I just wanted my idiot, shut-in Master to interact a bit with his competitors." The female replied nonchalantly. "He needs the chance to develop his personality a bit, you see."

"H-Hey, why the hell are you talking about me like that?!" Shinji rebutted.

"Heh, in any case – " The unknown male voice continued, before Mihara heard a sudden loud _twang_ echo in the area. "I'll take the first shot then."

"Watch it, Master!" Caster shouted, before picking him up and jumping out of the chasm area with amazing ease, Saber following her shortly.

"Uwah!" He could only gasp in surprise at the movement, before he heard dozens upon dozens of _thuds_ impacting the ground. As he turned his head down mid-flight, he saw a swarm of arrows already riddled into the ground where they were standing just moments before.

Within a few seconds the three had landed safely at the top of the cliffs, overlooking the chasm. Quickly Mihara got down onto his own two feet, being carried by a girl was embarrassing, to say the least.

Even more so, when he noticed Shinji and Shun standing on the cliff face across the chasm from them, two unfamiliar figures by their sides.

One of them wore a long, crimson jacket with a black trim that wouldn't look out of place on a seafaring Captain. Secured around her stomach by a hardy leather belt, she appeared to wear no undershirt, her jacket serving to emphasize a substantial amount of cleavage. With cream-coloured pants encased in thigh-high leather boots and crimson-coloured hair that matched her coat, she looked as though she was ready for a fight anytime, against anyone. An opinion reinforced by a clean scar travelling directly across her face from above her right eyebrow to the left corner of her mouth.

The second new figure stood at least 6 feet in height, and likely several inches more. He sported a round face, lacking any noticeable fat, with a thin black moustache and a thick beard flowing from his chin, his black hair tucked into a cone-shaped hat. A well-built, well-muscled body was hidden under a dark grey, fur-lined coat that covered almost the entirety of his body, from his wrists down to his shins, thin layers of metal plates stapled to it. A white, silky undershirt peeked out just at his collarbone, with a set of dark brown trousers tucked into a set of boots. And within his hands, he held firmly onto what appeared to be a sturdy recurve bow. Suffice to say, his heavy-looking clothes and equally-impressive physique wouldn't look out of place at all trekking across several frigid mountains, hunting his prey no matter what the conditions.

"Oya, now _this_ is interesting." The female noted as she looked at Mihara. "Our little friend's managed to summon two Servants!"

"…M-Mihara!" Shinji muttered under his breath. "What's the meaning of this?! You aren't supposed to have two Servants! No Master's supposed to have two Servants!"

"I'm afraid I can't answer you, Shinji." He replied quite sheepishly. "I don't really know myself."

"Heh, takes someone incompetent like you to get special treatment from the Moon Cell I see." He raised his hands in exasperation as he spoke. "You get these kinda handicaps and whatnot I see. Still, those handicaps can't change the fact that you're still so slow!"

"We've already collected our Triggers, Mihara." Shun finished his partner's line of thought.

"Well, with you crawling along like the slug that you are, there's no way you'd have been able to get the triggers before us anyway, even with two Servants!"

"Speaking of Servants, why don't I introduce you to mine?" He continued, turning his head over to the woman beside him. "We both know our levels are far too different Mihara, you aren't gonna win this. And if you can't even get your Triggers, it might as well just be game over for you here and now!"

He placed a hand on his hips before flicking a lock of hair away from his face, turning to his Servant.

"Seriously though, you don't need to hold back. Feel free to turn him into a bullet-ridden corpse whenever you feel like it!"

"Really?" She asked. "You're done gloating already? I was actually starting to enjoy your meaningless monologue after hanging our poor friend there out to dry." She tilted her head over to Shun, most likely referencing their earlier conversation. "Well, I'm sure we all know that my Master is a complete social retard, right?" She shrugged as she spoke with a sly smile on her lips.

"Hah! Says the Servant of the Master." The second Servant laughed with his arms crossed in front of him. "You chose to offer the contract yourself did you not? What sort of warrior decides to offer themself to such a useless Master eh?"

"Oya oya, I said it earlier, right?" She replied to the other Servant. "As his 'Servant', I need to give him a chance to develop his personality a bit more. I swear, he's got worse manners than a bunch of Jacktars stuck out at sea for 4 years, greeted every morning with only each other's stinkin' ugly mugs!"

"W-Where the hell do you get off analysing me?!" He shouted back at her, though Mihara suspected he didn't know half of what she was talking about. "C'mon! He's my rival! Our enemy here! Just hurry up and shoot his face off that body of his!"

"Oh ho, look at the tough guy!" She laughed with a grin. "I admit: I admire the fact that you're evil enough to give a friend a beat down. Heh, I guess that's part of what made me offer you my services in the first place. That darkness in your grubbly little soul is truly impressive, Shinji. Yes, oh yes do I expect a generous reward later!" She asked, drawing two antiquated pistols in her hands with a flourish.

"Well then, 'partner', are you ready to get your hands dirty gutting a pair of fish today?" She asked, addressing the largest amongst them.

"Go ahead, Archer." Shun spoke softly and firmly, having remained silent until now as he discerned his Servant's unspoken question.

"Heh, fish was a rarity in my days." He replied to the woman after a nod of acknowledgement. "But I am loathe to turn away from a good a hunt as this!"

As soon as Shinji's Servant had finished speaking, a sound resembling a thunderclap echoed around the area, as a large ellipse rapidly drew itself around the two teams, even across the chasm that separated them. Immediately after it finished, the line instantly began emitting a strange, green glow that quickly turned to red.

"Tch, looks like the SERAPH's got its eye on us…" Mihara could hear Shinji mutter from across the gorge. "Oh well, I'll just show you how powerful I am for today then."

As soon as he finished, writing began to show itself just above the ellipse that surrounded them, as though being projected out from it. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, it was _written_ on a wall, formed by the beams of light the ellipse made.

Written in bright, blinking red were the words:

**Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within three minutes.**

**No outside forces may enter, and no forces may escape until the full period is complete.**

"How tactful." Saber muttered. "It would be very distasteful if one of the SERAPH's programs were to interrupt this duel in the middle of it."

' _The SERAPH's created a separate field for us to fight without interruption, huh?_ ' Mihara thought. ' _Well, I wouldn't have minded if we saved this fight for later, but I guess there's no helping it._ '

"Archer, let's go!" Shun's voice shouted first, signalling the start of the battle.

"Right, Brother!" The burly man shouted in reply, grinning as he raised his bow to the air, a single _twang_ ringing out.

"This again!" Mihara muttered. "Everyone, spli-eh, hey!"

"My apologies, Master." Saber replied, before picking him up and leaping out from the area towards a small rock formation, Caster following.

A moment later, the ground were they stood, was quickly riddled with arrows, as if it was a field of wooden grass.

"We shouldn't fight too aggressively today." Mihara said as he quickly got back onto his two feet. "We don't know what our foes this time can do. We'll need to bring them closer to us though – Caster, could you fire one of your spells at them?"

"Right'o, Master!" The foxgirl replied, one of her charms appearing in her hands before she jumped out of the rocks.

"If one of them jumps over here, could you try and close into melee range, Saber?" He continued as Caster jumped out.

"Understood." Saber replied, readying her sword.

"Eat this!" Caster shouted as she threw the piece of paper, flying straight towards the enemy position.

"What's this, paper?" The bowman asked, an arrow interrupting the charm Caster had thrown at them.

Just as he did, a large explosion rocked the area, flooding the two sides of the chasm with bright, searing light, as a ball of flame engulfed its centre.

"Okay, perhaps not just any ordinary piece of paper!" The man laughed as the flames abated, having long-ago jumped away to safety.

"Your Servant's too slow, Mihara!" Shun called out.

"Straight at them now-" Shinji shouted, pointing towards them. "Get to it!"

"A boarding action?" The female asked. "This should be fun!"

In a sudden burst of strength she leapt from her position, spinning twice in the air as she crossed the chasm in a single jump.

Moments before landing, she straightened herself and pointed the barrels of her pistols right at Caster, who was already attempting to dodge her incoming fire.

"Heh, I never imagined I'd get a chance to partake in fox-hunting again after so long!" She muttered, before opening fire.

A stream of bullets, far faster and far more controlled than any firearm had any right to be, erupted as the ringing sounds and thick smoke of her guns flooded the area as Mihara could only cringe from behind his cover.

' _Damnit; how much time do we have left?_ ' Mihara thought, coughing as he tried to look for Caster through the thick smoke around him, hoping she managed to survive the woman's onslaught.

Just as he did, he noticed the words inscribed into the makeshift wall surrounding the field change:

**Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within two minutes.**

"Two minutes…" Mihara said, before turning his attention back to the battlefield.

"Phew." He could hear the woman exhale through the still-clearing smoke after the gunfire had stopped. "Hm, did I get her?"

"You have other problems to worry about!" Saber's voice answered, the sound of metal clashing on metal echoing moments later.

Peeking out from his cover, he could barely see Saber, her having closed in on the woman. Her sword swinging, the woman's pistols were brought up in a cross-formation just in time to block the incoming blow.

"Not half bad, lassie." The woman muttered, grinning. "But are you holding back? I'd have expected more from someone like you." In a fluid, controlled motion she rolled onto her back while still keeping Saber's sword locked between her pistols, and quickly lashed out with both her feet into Saber's unprotected stomach.

"Kuh!" She grunted as she was flung backwards, before quickly steadying herself just as the woman leapt back onto her feet.

A moment passed before Saber's attention shifted away from the opponent in front of her towards the other side of the chasm.

And in that instant she quickly leapt to the side, a hail of arrows whizzing by just as she did so.

"Hey hey; don't just ignore me!"

' _I've got to get in contact with Caster somehow._ ' Mihara thought as he closed his eyes, trying to re-establish the mental link, just as he did before.

" _ **Caster, can you hear me?!**_ " He shouted as soon as he felt it connect.

" _ **Yes, yes I can hear you, Master…**_ " The reply came back positive. " _ **One of that woman's shots connected there, but I'm still good to go!**_ **"**

' _Clearly I mucked up this one._ ' Mihara thought darkly. ' _Still, better deal with this situation first._ '

" _ **Alright, could you fire off one of your freeze spells at her? Disable her long enough so Saber can close in and get a good hit. Afterwards try and pin down that guy across the chasm if you can.**_ "

" _ **Understood, Master.**_ "

Several metres away he saw a familiar figure jump up from behind a group of rocks, her hands in front of her face as she was preparing her spells.

"Hold it right there, you!" Mihara heard Shinji's voice from across the chasm, interrupting his thoughts. As he turned to look, he saw a large, strange, pulsing blue orb. Within it, he could just barely make out Shinji's figure, his arms active in a flurry of motion, as though pressing buttons and typing in commands from within.

' _What's that?!_ ' He couldn't help but stare in confusion, just as Shinji apparently finished and pointed towards Caster.

In a split second the blue orb condensed into a small mass of black and yellow, collecting at his fingertips.

Just as it finished forming, it shot forward in the blink of an eye, Mihara barely managed to follow it as it impacted against Caster.

With a yelp of surprise and pain, Caster's concentration was disrupted moments before she had unleashed her spell. Though not clearly damaging, the attack Shinji had fired spread around her entire figure, covering her in an array of crackling static while freezing her movements.

" _ **That damn punk-!**_ " Dripping with venom, Caster's voice echoed through Mihara's mind. " _ **He's fired off some sort of paralytic CodeCast at me there!**_ "

"Hah, nice shot there, bilge rat!" The woman shouted as her head spun towards Caster's now frozen form. "Perhaps we could make a gunner out of you after all!"

"What did you just call me?!" Shinji shouted in rage, though his Servant ignored him. Instead, she quickly levered one of her pistols towards the fox, before firing a single shot just before Saber cut in with a sweeping slash that forced her to jump back, preventing anymore shots.

It also meant that the woman's aim was off. The impact striking the ground just where Caster's feet were. Still, this shot seemed different from the others, with a large explosion as if it were a grenade, instead of a bullet.

Moments after, Mihara heard a single _ping_ echo through the area, his head whipping around to see the cause.

**Attention: Hostilities between Masters will be terminated within one minute.**

' _Still one more._ ' Mihara grimaced, his mind turning back to the fight as he attempted to make sense of the situation.

" _ **It would be good to think of something soon, Master!**_ " He could hear Saber's voice, just as he saw her leap away from another rain of arrows.

' _This isn't good._ ' Mihara's mind was whirling away, trying to find a way to buy at least a little more time. ' _Both enemy Servants are good at range. Saber can't get a chance to close in on one without the other firing on her while the other skips away. Their range also means Caster has little to no advantage either, unless Saber alone is enough of a distraction…_ '

"Wait, maybe…" He whispered aloud, before closing his eyes in concentration, trying to visualise the battlefield.

"It appears your aim isn't as good as your own Master's." Saber taunted, contrasting with her thoughts earlier even as she dodged another rain of arrows. "Perhaps it is you who should spend some time shovelling water out of the hold instead?"

"Oh, believe me lassie, I've spent enough time in many a ship's holds to last for a lifetime!" The woman laughed as she stood to the side, guns at the ready as she waited for a moment to fire.

"Hmph, the appropriate place for you is in no ship's hold – " Saber began again as her boots clicked on the stone ground one more time.

"But within a sea-monster's stomach!"

As she shouted, she leapt forward straight at her opponent, sword trailing behind her to deliver a horizontal slash.

Yet just as before, the enemy Servant saw this coming, and moved out of the way. And another rain of arrows flew forth, straight for the red-clad Servant.

This time however, instead of jumping away immediately she allowed the momentum of her strike to carry her forward, her sword swinging around her in a full circle, before embedding it into the ground diagonally.

Not pausing for even a moment she pressed on, using her momentum and her sword as a pivot. With as much force as she could muster she leapt forward, feet-first towards her enemy, her small frame flying through the air as the attack connected soundly, the enemy Servant stumbling backwards.

"Guh, not bad!" she muttered, before being forced back again as the red Servant again continued with her attack.

"Hey, hey!" An incredulous shout from Shinji interrupted Mihara's thoughts, mid-way through processing the battle in front of him. "Shun, what do you think you're doing!? You're gonna hit my Servant like that!"

"Don't underestimate me, you little brat!" Shun's Servant spat, apparently being interrupted mid-shot.

"Archer, watch out!" Shun shouted, stopping the argument as his Servant just realized another suspicious piece of paper was flying straight for them.

' _It seems to be working._ ' Mihara thought. ' _When engaged in close-combat, it becomes a lot more difficult for an archer to attack the enemy, without risking a hit on his ally. And with that distraction, Caster can move in quietly._ '

As his thoughts finished, he heard an almost reassuring explosion echo from across the chasm.

"That damn fox snuck behind us while we weren't looking!" He heard Shinji shout. "There; the tre – Agh! Hot! Hot!"

As he listened in amusement, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of guilt that appeared within all the adrenaline pumping through him.

"You don't seem so confident now." Saber muttered, her crimson sword lashing in for another attack, the sound of steel echoing out again and again.

Blow after blow she delivered, yet each blow was deflected with the same ease as the last. However, this still meant that her enemy had no chance to retaliate, her pistols guarding her. They knew that this was just a delaying tactic, the timer on the edge of the battlefield was clearly visible, ticking down to the last seconds as explosions continued to ring from across the chasm.

"Looks like you won't get a chance to 'blow my Master's face off', as that impudent child put it." Saber muttered again as she delivered another blow, which was deflected again.

"Hm, I might not've been able to get the grand Treasure ship, but!" The enemy Servant gave a toothy grin as she leapt back one more time, twirling around as the red Servant followed her, her sword already crashing down from above.

Before a loud ' _clang_ ' echoed throughout the battlefield.

Yet this time, there were no more clashes to follow, as only the deep thumping of explosions continued.

For in an exquisitely timed move, the enemy Servant had entrapped the crimson blade within the firing mechanism of one of her pistols just as it were firing, mere inches from the back of her head.

"Impossible!" The red-clad Servant shouted in disbelief.

"Oh, it's possible alright." The enemy Servant spoke, her back faced to the enemy as though this were a daily occurrence. "I thought your strength seemed a little weak for a Saber, I guess it's just my luck."

With another toothy grin the enemy Servant turned her head over her shoulders, just as Saber realised her enemy's remaining hand was twisted around her torso, still holding a pistol now aimed at her stomach.

Saber also noticed a strange sheet of paper that had begun to glow, mere centimetres behind her enemy.

"Even though the Treasure ship's ran away, I can damn well bloody their noses a bit!"

A single shot rang out in the arena, just as the area they were standing in was instantly engulfed in flames mere moments afterwards.

"Saber!" Mihara shouted in fear as he saw the events unfold before him, yet unable to approach with the immense blaze before him.

"Tch, looks like I didn't place those curses properly…" Caster muttered after a moment as she landed nearby. "I'm sorry Master, but it seems she's – "

"Don't start, you cursed vixen!" Saber interrupted as she landed in front of the two, before wobbling down to her knees. "To have something like that happen at just that moment… That Servant must truly be blessed by the Gods."

"Saber, you're bleeding!" Mihara couldn't help but point out the obvious as he saw his Servant clutching her stomach, a patch of red expanding across the white on her clothes.

"'Tis but a flesh wound. It will heal just like any other." She replied matter-of-factly, though she remained kneeling on the ground.

Just as she finished speaking, another _ping_ echoed throughout the area as all eyes turned towards the border of the mini-arena, the green cliffs now scorched black.

**Attention: Hostilities between Masters will now be terminated.**

**Further fights for the duration of this day are prohibited.**

**Failure to comply will result in action taken by the SERAPH.**

As they finished reading another glowing red line appeared through the centre of the chasm, clearly dividing them and stopping any fighting.

"Crap, looks like the SERAPH really mean business." Mihara could hear Shinji mutter from the other side of the chasm.

As he turned to look, he saw Shun and his towering Servant unharmed, while Shinji stood before them, palm to his forehead in thought.

Though, he noticed his sleeves were slightly burnt, as was his shoes.

"Oh well, there's no need for this to end now anyway!" Shinji continued, shrugging nonchalantly.

"And your Servant, little tramp?" Saber spat, using her sword for support as she stood, exhausted, but stable.

As if in reply, Mihara heard the laughter of Shinji's Servant as she stepped out of the bushes on Shinji's side of the chasm, doubled-over in mirth.

With not a speck of dust or char on her.

"Impossible…" Now it was Caster's turn to gape in disbelief.

"Oh gods, that was fun!" The enemy Servant shouted with a big smile on her face. "Now I really am getting pumped for this fight!"

"Well, now you've seen just how powerful my Servant is Mihara, so are you ready to grovel before me yet?" Shinji asked after his Servant finished speaking. "Beg hard enough and maybe I'll make you my underling. Heck, if I'm feeling in a good enough mood, I'll share some of the prize money with you."

Bringing a white cylinder out from his pocket, Shinji gave a final laugh before snapping it in two. He and his Servant vanished from the area in a ray of pixelated light.

"You have until the end of the week to play catch-up, Mihara." Shun said calmly, with a slight grin on his face. "Well, I'll be spending most of that time with my lovely lady. I figured you may actually need some sort of handicap to bridge the distance."

With his final words of 'reassurance', Shun brought out another white cylinder, cracking it open and disappearing with his Servant.

Silence descended onto the arena as Mihara collapsed onto the ground breathing heavily, his strength leaving him.

* * *

_**Night** _

* * *

"Kiiii!" He heard Caster's shrill scream. "How dare they! How dare those punks desecrate the supple skin of this fair maiden! I'll rip them to shreds! I'll gut them and fry them and feed them to the demons of Yomi I will!"

Mihara couldn't help but let out a weary smile at Caster's lamentations at the dining table, back at his private residence.

After taking care of some necessary damage control, the three of them proceeded on through the Arena to try and find the necessary Trigger. Fortunately they did not have to search very far. They found a floating green box not much further past the battlefield, evidently Ms. Fujimura's aforementioned item folder.

Not wanting to fatigue his Servants much more after the fast-paced battle earlier, he had elected to go home immediately afterwards. His Servants were somewhat against the idea however, citing his need of practice and the necessity to improve the connection between him and his Servants. Still, they deferred to him after a short while, perhaps seeing the merit in conserving their strength now.

The return climb however had yielded another short passage, well-hidden from view for those coming down the path. As it was such a short path, Mihara could clearly see what laid at its end: An orange box of similar design to that which contained the triggers earlier.

"I should probably return that kendo sword to Ms. Fujimura soon." He muttered to himself as he remembered what was inside said orange folder. "Though I didn't expect a bunch of programs to jump out at us after opening it."

"You still lack experience, Mihara." Saber replied between bites of food, though her plate was nearly empty. "With time both your experience and our strength will increase."

"Yeah. Again, I'm sorry about how that fight turned out." He didn't know how many times he had apologized for his poor showing earlier.

"We have failed miserably, I will not deny it." The crimson swordswoman replied with a furrowed brow. "But you should not let that bring you down, for in the Holy Grail War, knowledge is power."

"Uh huh, and fighting the enemy without knowing enough about them is really stupid, especially since we're nowhere near peak performance either!" Caster added. "Oh, but that doesn't mean the fight was avoidable though. I don't know how we could've got out of that one!"

"Well, for now what do we know of our opponents then?" Mihara asked as he swallowed a mouthful of curry. "I don't know all that much about either Master, I spent the preliminary four days almost constantly next to Shinji, so I know him a bit better than Shun."

"You should probably ask around a bit tomorrow, Mihara." Caster commented after taking a measured bite. "The other Masters may know a bit more about them that we can use."

"I'll make sure to do that." He paused. "And the Servants?"

"Hmm, judging from all those battlecries from the big guy, plus his communications with his Master, he's almost certain to be an Archer." Caster began.

"Yes, Shun referred to him as Archer. His weapon certainly fits his class name." He nodded remembering the fight.

"It didn't seem as though he was completely committed to this fight though." Saber commented in-between mouthfuls, before handing her plate to Mihara who dutifully refilled her portion. "The other one however, was showing off quite a bit of her strength, though again I doubt she has yet to play all her cards. Her class however is still an enigma, but judging by her weapons, the guns she wielded, she might also be of the Archer class too."

"Oh, you mean the one you were having difficulty dealing with, Saber?" Caster asked.

"I was not having 'difficulty' dealing with her!" The swordsman rebutted, before taking a mouthful. "I was too busy preventing you from being shot up during the start of the fight!"

"Yes, yes, you were the only one who got shot in the end; thank you for that - "

"It is actually you who seemed to be having difficulty with that fight. What were you thinking placing that last charm there of all places?!"

"Well obviously to make sure I hit that salty witch of course." Caster replied, though she was observing a corner of the dining room away from her partner.

"I knew it!" Saber exclaimed as she jabbed her chopstick across the table. "You did that on purpose didn't you?!"

"No, no, it was an accident I swear!" The fox had crossed her hands in front of her, her head shaking vigorously from side to side. "And anyway, you know how large an area my spells hit. If you insisted on sticking so closely to her of course you'd get hit by it!"

"Well what other choice was there?!" The swordswoman responded again after swallowing. "As another Legendary Soul I would have expected much more control from someone like you!"

"Oh, 'control' you say?" Caster asked. "Says the little piggy who can't seem to stop eating, even though we don't actually need to eat."

"Is it wrong to enjoy the simple pleasure of eating?" Saber replied. "Truly, one doesn't realise how much such mundane activities mean until they're actually lost. And having been absent from the living after so long… Eh, wait, did you just call me a pig!?"

"So slooooow!" Caster chuckled, before placing a hand on her head. "Though, now you're getting all philosophical on me…"

"Don't get started, you damn anmial!"

"What? Piglets can be cute too, though foxes are even cuter."

"Why is it you're referring to me as getting smaller and smaller in terms of size?!"

Mihara couldn't help but sigh as he watched his Servants bicker about trivial things again. He didn't expect to be able to stop them, as his mind turned inwards to review the facts about the enemy.

' _Okay, two Archers for the first round, though one of them showed considerable strength even at close-ranged combat. The way the latter conversed implied life on, or near, the sea and she also referenced 'Treasure Ships'. I'd better look that up tomorrow._ '

' _The 'confirmed' Archer, we know little about. He seemed reluctant to throw himself fully in battle unlike the other, as if… as if he were just watching us. Studying us._ '

' _That other Archer, in that final moment against Saber, was that a skill of hers, or truly just pure luck? I suppose in normal terms a sword strike would break the firing mechanism of such a gun, but these are Servants we are talking about, plus Saber is unusually weak at this stage, as the enemy has realised. Is pure luck truly on her side then?_ '

' _The enemy Masters are my friend and a guy neck-deep in love. I've got some really strange opponents for this first round. Shinji thinks this is just a game, with prize money at the end. Is he right? Is this just a game? Yet why did it feel like I almost died just 2 days ago?_ '

' _Also, what was that spell he hit Caster with too? That strange ball of light that instantly paralyzed her, can I do the same too?_ '

' _And Shun, his girlfriend too, they entered this knowing the stakes right? Can I really do it? Separate them permanently by death?_ '

"I damn well hope that Shinji is right…And Tousaka was wrong." He muttered to himself, before looking at the pot of curry next to him.

"Though first I guess I should worry about getting more food tomorrow."


	8. Week 1 Day 3

**Act 1: Scene 5**

**4 Days Remaining**

**_Morning_ **

* * *

Mihara groaned as he stretched his arms, stepping into the town centre while he observed the stalls lined up against one another.

He had spent the entire night awake again; his attention focused mainly on what he saw Shinji try to do to Caster, and attempting to try to replicate it. To his chagrin, he discovered very little about it, possibly because the Moon Cell took it for granted that Masters knew more than enough to perform well, and saw no need to provide tutorials.

“I guess in the end this really is ‘survival of the fittest’, huh?” He murmured with a twisted smile.

The town centre was a fairly large street that extended for at least one hundred metres, with stalls, boutiques and department stores lined on both sides that sold a large variety of food, necessities and luxuries.

Pork, beef, chicken, and fish. Vegetables, fruits, decorative plants. Cooking utensils, gardening and cleaning tools were also on sale, as well as a large variety of pets and even stalls selling clothes, jewellery and furniture.

If it weren’t for the occasional stall that sold battle items to be used on one’s Servants, Mihara would have thought the place was just an ordinary town, without a care nor thought about the ‘Holy Grail War’.

As expected, each and every stall was manned by an NPC. They didn't wear the black uniform that the school NPCs had, as they were dressed in what was considered normal clothing.

Instead, he noticed them by the fact that they all had a different behaviour compared to other Masters, or living humans. If he were to talk to one, their mannerisms, speech patterrns, and the general feeling he got couldn’t compare to the one he would had if he were talking to another live human.

These NPCs just seemed a little… flat, in comparison. As if they were two dimensional.

“I guess this was what Tousaka was talking about when she mentioned I seemed too ‘bland’…” He sighed as he remembered that. “Perhaps it is a human’s memories and experiences throughout life that helps to bring out that little extra huh?”

‘ _And speaking of memories, I still have no clue about my own…_ ’ He thought darkly, before he noticed someone from the throng of people looking at him directly for several moments.

“There’s another one again.” He muttered to himself, losing sight of the person. “How many times has that been today, I wonder?”

For some reason, he had seemed to be attracting a bit more attention from other people ever since the start of the day. And he could tell that these people who were looking at him were Masters, not NPCs.

He wasn’t exactly sure if it should come as a surprise to him. He could think of at least one reason as to why he was attracting such attention, the foremost reason being his pairing against two other Masters. It would have only taken one curious soul to see it on the board, before rumours started spreading.

Inevitably, either by their own deduction or observation, they would also conclude that he possessed two Servants as well.

He knew that he probably should care a bit more about that issue, what with knowledge being power in the war, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. After all, he was here to buy more food, and not worry about the War just yet.

Speaking about his Servants, they had already gone their way a while ago. Due to the rules of the Moon Cell forbidding fighting of any sort outside the Arena, all three of them saw little reason to remain together should something in the marketplace or in town catch their interest. They did however, set a deadline to meet back on the school grounds later in the afternoon to start the day’s training in the Arena.

‘ _Haah, well I can worry about all that later I guess…_ ’ He thought as he noticed a fishmonger stall nearby. ‘ _Hmm… some fish for tonight sounds good._ ’

He pulled out his terminal as he stepped forward, checking his balance that he had accumulated over the past few days before stepping inside.

‘ _Hmm, there’s enough for several days’ worth of food, but the fridge at home is quite small though, so I don’t think I can buy much more than what’s enough for today._ ’ He mused to himself. ’ _Though come to think of it, even though I know HOW to cook, I don’t actually know much of WHAT to cook. I should probably look for a bookstore. Or perhaps the library has some cookbooks for rent? As if that’d ever happen._ ’

Just as he was imagining the weird looks he would get from other Masters busy researching enemy Servants in the library while he was busy looking for cookbooks, a burly man called out to him from deeper in the shop.

“Yo, Master; what can I offer you today?” He leaned to the side from a short wooden stool as he opened a nearby tap, washing his hands of blood from a nearby gutted and cleaned fish.

“Master?” Mihara asked as he stood to the side of the door to let an elderly woman walk out of the shop.

“Aren’t you?” The man asked as he stepped out from the back of the shop, the better lighting offered at the entrance revealing him to be an approximately five-foot tall, stout and tanned middle-aged man. He wore little else but jeans, leaving his well-toned upper body open with a mop of black hair tied into a short ponytail behind his head.

“A Master of the Holy Grail War, I mean. Not many Masters come down to town to do grocery shopping I tell you, all far too excited about the chance to kill people. Though, more often than not they find that they’ve hooked a fish too big for them to handle!” At his last comment he gave a hearty laugh, though Mihara didn’t share his mirth.

“Ah well, what do I know; I’m only a town NPC after all.” He continued after noticing Mihara’s unease. “And only a fishmonger to boot; I mean I rarely ever get Masters coming in to have a look at my wares, and I’m sure everyone else on this side of the market is experiencing the same! Well, not like it matters to us though since we may as well be as good as seaweed in many of your eyes, but come on! I mean, why – Oh, excuse me.”

He stopped halfway through his rant as a young lady came up to him to place her order. Silently Mihara watched him work, going through a number of different fish breeds as well as varying sizes, before his customer settled on two medium-sized carp from his selection.

“Anyway, where was I?” He asked Mihara again after he had finished wrapping the fish and collecting payment. “Bah, I was probably rambling on about something strange anyway, so let’s go back to my original question.” With that he spread his arms over the iceboxes before him, encouraging Mihara to come closer and take a look.

“I’ve got a wide variety of fish for sale most days.” He continued as Mihara began slowly examining the fish in one icebox. “And from everywhere around the world too; kind of one perk living in a digital environment that.”

“Yeah, I’m not looking for anything too special today though.” Mihara replied as he singled out a particular fish. “I guess something good for steaming tonight.”

“In that case let me recommend something for you...“

* * *

Twenty minutes later the transaction was finished, and several tens of fillets worth of fish had been transported back to the private residence automatically.

“Knowing how much all three of us eat I think that should be enough for two days or so… Or perhaps I should say knowing how much Saber eats.” He sighed as he looked at his terminal.

‘ _These NPCs are surprisingly nice people._ ’ He thought absent-mindedly as he stood to the side of the entrance. ‘ _Though I still find it very awkward when they start commenting on the fact that they are NPCs and not real humans…_ ’

“In any case, where should I go now…?” He asked aloud.

‘ _The fishmonger did tell me of a bookstore nearby. I should probably have a look around to see if I can learn, or remember, any new recipes._ ’

“Well well, fancy seeing you here today Mihara.” An all-too familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. “Still inching forward slowly like the slug you are I see?”

“Shinji.” Mihara murmured to himself; the only person he knew who would mix a greeting with an insult.

Taking a quick breath he turned to his left, the blue-haired Master was waiting just as he predicted, almost as though the battle yesterday had never occurred. The smug face, the air of superiority, and the pair of girls behind him, the same as he was before.

It was as if everything was still the same as the preliminary was…

Despite himself, Mihara felt his guard dropping considerably around him, the ‘friendship’ and memories they had within the first four days surfacing almost immediately.

‘ _I can’t believe it._ ’ He thought.

“Yo, Shinji.” His mouth spoke, working independently from his brain. “How’re you doing today?”

‘ _I just… can’t believe we actually are enemies right now…_ ’

“Eh, pretty good actually, after seeing my Servant give such a sound beating to yours yesterday.” Shinji boasted.

“Yeah, I guess I’m still not prepared enough for this.” Mihara shrugged as he spoke truthfully.

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that.” His rival began. “I mean; my Servant _is_ the strongest in this war anyway. Nobody’ll be able to get away from the both of us without at least _some_ sort of injury!”

“I can’t really dispute that, I guess.” He gave a pained smile at the unbidden memory of Saber bleeding from yesterday, before he tried to change the subject of the conversation. “By the way, Shinji, what brings you down to town today?”

“Oh, me?” He asked. “Well, I’m just going out for a walk with my girls here. See what it is the SERAPH made in this city, you know how it goes.”

“I see…” Mihara began as he tilted his head slightly to get a better look at the two standing behind him, just as the thought hit him. “Wait, those girls…”

“NPC’s?” Shinji asked, finishing Mihara’s question. “Yep! Well, I guess you weren’t as lost as I thought you were, having all this happen to a little bug like you must’ve been quite shocking I bet.”

“Shinji, how…” Again he couldn’t help himself but ask. “How did you manage to make the NPC’s follow you around like that?”

“Heh; it’d probably be too much for your pea-sized brain to understand if I told you.” Shinji puffed up in pride at his curiosity. “But, since you asked so nicely I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show you how it’s done!”

Snapping his right fingers together, a bright blue spark began to appear from the tip of his middle finger. With a sweeping motion in front of him he began drawing a large semi-circle, its radius as long as his hand could reach. Mere moments after completion the line began to expand at an alarming rate, both up and down to form a large blue sphere surrounding Shinji, as though within a cockpit of some sort.

‘ _This... This is the same as yesterday!_ ’ Mihara thought as he observed, wide-eyed. He didn’t fail to notice that behind him, the two girls standing there had closed their eyes and ceased their idling movements. Now, there was a series of irregularly-spaced blue screens, creating a vague column around their still figures as ones and zeros flew rapidly around each screen.

“Yeah I forgot to mention this as well actually.” Shinji began speaking as the sphere finished forming, his fingers working at a lightning speed across the interface before him. “I found out just yesterday that the SERAPH is surprisingly simple actually. I mean, the security measures placed on most of these ‘town’ NPCs were just so weak, even a monkey could override them. After breaching that, it’s just a simple matter of rewriting their subroutines to become emotionally attached to me!”

Immediately after his statement he snapped his fingers again, as if to emphasis. On command however, the blue sphere retracted itself back into the original line, before disappearing entirely. And on cue, the girls behind him woke up again, as they began cuddling up significantly closer to the hacker.

“With the strongest Servant at my side, and my supreme hacking abilities, nothing can stand between me and the ‘Holy Grail’!”

“Oya oya, aren’t you getting a bit too full of yourself?” Another familiar, disembodied voice echoed in the immediate area. “I’m surprised you’d still take the time to humour my Master, Mihara, was it? Well, I guess I don’t need to prove anything to you when I say my Master has the social etiquette equivalent to that of a clam stuck at the bottom of an ocean trench! I mean, look at him! All he’s ever got to interact with are these horrendously shallow NPC’s after all!”

“What the – !” Shinji turned around in shock as he tried to find the sudden intruder, ignoring the girls as they ignored the voice. “Hey! What the hell are you spouting off about me suddenly?! And why the hell are you calling me a clam now!?”

“Oya, I told you already I wanted to build up that character of yours at least a little, did I not?” His Servant’s voice continued unabated. “Well, I consider it a side-project really, so you don’t need to worry about me charging extra on top of that pile of delicious treasure I’m sure you have lined up for me.”

“Tch, whatever; I’ll pay you when you’ve wiped Mihara’s Servants off the face of the Earth.” With his final rebuttal, Shinji stormed off with his two NPC’s following close behind him.

“Haah, still so temperamental I see.” Shinji’s Servant sighed to herself as Mihara watched him go.

“Aren’t you… going to follow him?” Mihara asked, feeling slightly awkward with nobody actually there.

“Hah! I’d only spoil his mood.” She laughed heartily. “Although, that in itself isn’t so bad; I gotta admit it’s really entertaining knocking him off balance so often!”

“I… guess I can’t really argue with you there.” He gave a weak smile.

“Speaking of following…” The voice of the invisible Servant spoke again. “Might I ask where your own Servants are?”

“Oh, they’re out exploring the town.” He replied nonchalantly, before he felt a sudden shiver go up his spine.

“Hmm, that’s no good y’know.” She replied. “We _are_ in a War; I don’t know how stupid one could be to leave their weapons at home and come to the battlefield empty handed.”

“But, the SERAPH’s rules forbid fighting…” He asked as the shiver from before turned into a cold grip.

“Oh dear; you’re depending too much on the SERAPH’s rules to hold in place I see.” She commented lazily despite his growing apprehension.

“Who knows, maybe even right now I’ve got a pistol pointed at that pretty face of yours.” Her voice continued unabated, her lack of a physical body only adding to Mihara’s nervousness. “It’d only take a second for me to materialize, and another moment before you’ll be on the ground soaking in a pool of your own blood.”

“B-But the SERAPH’s security – ” He stumbled over his argument again as the memory of his death started coming back to him, cold sweat already forming.

“I just told you; you depend too much on that.” She chided. “Even though we Servants were made from the SERAPH, we are not like the normal NPCs you see here; it has no hold over us to stop us from ‘breaking’ the rules. And the SERAPH’s Guardians or other NPC’s? Well, some of them may be fast and strong, but even they can’t react in a split second to me killing you at point-blank range!”

He couldn’t answer her this time, his body having frozen as the pain, the cold, and the terror, from that moment where he had almost died resurfaced completely, just 3 days ago.

‘ _No._ ’

‘ _Not again._ ’

‘ _Not there again…_ ’

“Hm, I see you’ve already felt that cold touch then.” The woman Archer’s voice knocked him out of his mind’s dark loop. Even though she was invisible, Mihara thought he heard a slight hint of approval in her voice. “Shinji may not be taking this 100% seriously, but I do. You and your Servants are gonna have to play a great deal of catch-up if you want to be a full match for me and Archer at the end of the week; and I dislike not having to give my all in a fight.”

T-Then, why do you sound like you _are_ going to carry out on your threat?” Mihara latched onto her last words like a lifeline.

“Hahaha!” She laughed at his nervousness, yet coupled with her invisible form it served little in easing Mihara’s worries. “Simply because I don’t intend to carry it out.”

“Wha-!” He exclaimed, caught off-guard by her answer.

“Let me tell you this now.” She continued. “I have no qualms about carving up one of those Spanish dogs and feeding him to the fishes, but that would’ve been _after_ I’ve sunk his galleon. I have the right to, you see.”

“That, and well…” She continued after a pause. “The SERAPH’s Guardians will probably give me the thrashing of ten lifetimes as punishment before being disqualified. Now where’s the fun in that eh?”

“…And what about ‘gutting’ me then?” He asked, his mood not lightening completely even after her joke.

“Well, we’ll have to see about that at the end of this week now, don’t we?” Mihara could just imagine the devilish smile she must have been wearing, despite her invisible form.

“Well, with that said I’m off.” She continued after a pause. “Shinji may not have paid me in full yet, but I’ve at least got a deposit I can shell out!”

As though their conversation never happened, he felt her presence disappear from the area without another care.

“…Perhaps fish for tonight wasn’t that good of an idea after all.” He muttered to himself, trying in vain to lighten his mood after the mock-death threat, and her ‘advice’.

* * *

Regardless of his mood however, he still had several hours left before his arranged meeting time with his Servants. He still had some more shopping to do, and the fishmonger was kind enough to tell him of a good bookstore in town where he could go and try to refresh his memory on some recipes, and maybe, a couple more things about the SERAPH’s systems.

‘ _In particular that magic sphere Shinji used._ ’ He thought to himself as he stepped into the store.

Unfortunately, just like last night’s search the library yielded little about it, though he did find a few good cookbooks he ended up buying for future reference.

“I hope Saber and Caster don’t mind this eclectic mix…” He murmured to himself as he prepared to leave. “Though I’m not sure about their tolerance for some of these recipes, I guess I can start trying some out tomorrow… Hm?”

Just before he stepped out of the doorway, he noticed the café next door to the bookshop, to the right of his position.

When he first entered the bookshop, he noted that it was an ordinary café, a handful of wooden tables and chairs setup on the cobblestone streets in front of it, boxed in neatly with a couple of short hedges in flower. What caught his attention wasn’t the café itself however, but rather the new customers that were sitting down at the tables outside with two drinks.

“That’s Shun, and his girlfriend... Manaka, was it?” He muttered as he recognised their faces just around the corner. It was doubtful that they had noticed him in the shop, despite being only a few metres away; neither of them was facing the doorway directly, plus it was obvious that their attention was only on each other.

‘ _It’d probably be a good idea to try and listen in on their conversation…_ ’ He thought to himself as he looked around the bookstore and the street. ‘ _Some information about my opponents, plus maybe some on their Servants too…’_

It was probably better for him to remain inside the bookshop for now, near the entrance so that he could eavesdrop on the conversation. Fortunately the bookshop wasn’t too crowded right now, and it was also fairly quiet so it was easier to hear them over the hustle and bustle of the main street.

“Are you sure about that, darling?” Those were the first words he heard from the girl.

“Yes dear, I’m completely sure.” Shun replied enthusiastically, as Mihara could imagine him shaking his head vigorously despite not having a clear view of the two. “My Servant is really powerful, so even if I can’t gather enough info about that guy’s Servants I’m sure he’ll be able to pull through. Well, that and I’ve got Shinji’s Servant helping me out.”

“Really?” Manaka asked, somewhat dubiously before taking a drink. “I don’t really think he’s all that dependable though…”

“He’s a world-famous hacker you know?” Shun replied before he too took a sip. “I saw his Servant in action yesterday, and she’s quite powerful too. The man himself has also consistently taken first place in a large number of Asian tournaments too, so I’m pretty sure we’ll have no trouble with…what’s his name now? Well, him and his Servants.”

‘… _The least you could do is remember my name, dammit._ ’ Mihara thought slightly disgruntled.

“Yeah, I’m a bit confused about that darling…” She continued. “I mean, how come that one guy is paired up with the two of you?”

“That’s the funny thing.” He began. “Yesterday Shinji and I found him in the Arena, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when he had not one, but _two_ Servants following him!”

“Wow, seriously?!” Manaka asked, incredulous. “I mean, I thought that was impossible, what with the limit on Master ID numbers and everything.”

‘ _…Master ID numbers?_ ’ Mihara thought to himself as he tried to store everything he heard.

“Yeah, I don’t really get it myself.” Shun continued. “You might be able to think up of why; you always did understand this Moon Cell place better than I did. You are the best when it came down to it, even when we were both children.”

“I guess.” Mihara could barely hear her soft sigh. “But apart from that I always have to rely on you to look out for me though huh?”

“That’s not true.” He replied. “I mean, look at this Holy Grail War thing. I’m really grateful that we could go into this together. I… Never really was all that good with this hacking stuff, but you took the time out to help teach me stuff so that we could both get to where we are now.”

“So, dear!” He continued after a pause. “That’s why I’ve decided to help you gather as much info on your enemy as possible, otherwise I’ll end up feeling useless as your boyfriend!”

“Are you completely sure, darling?” Manaka asked again.

“There’s no way one of the Four Dogs of Genghis Khan’ll lose to someone like him, especially with his weak Servants” He replied confidently. “You should know me well enough by now that I’ll do everything for you dear. I’ll make sure to go dig up some info on your opponent for you!”

“…I guess it’s because of that determination that I fell in love with you, Darling.” Manaka mused to herself after a long pause.

“Well, when you say it so directly I can’t help but start to feel a bit shy…” Shun replied, probably quite abashed. “But, yeah… I love you too, Manaka.”

Without realising it, Mihara was gently gnawing at his lower lip as he heard the exchange between the two.

The last two sentences they spoke to each other… Two simple sentences spoken by two simple lovers. Yet the repercussions for him were anything but simple.

‘ _I have to kill one of them_.’ He thought to himself. ‘ _One of them must die if I am to live… Is there really no other way around this? That feeling I had when I was nearly killed by that effigy… that was truly me walking up to death’s doorstep…_ ’

’ _Death is a very real threat. Death must claim one of us._ ’

‘ _But who? Can I do it?_ ’

‘ _Can I force myself to shatter their relationship just so I can escape death?_ ’

The thoughts kept on circling endlessly round and round his brain without him realising it as he stood petrified for who knows how long at the doorway.

Finally however he snapped out of his stupor, before realising that the two had disappeared from the café.

“…The Four Dogs of Genghis Khan…” Mihara couldn’t help but mutter those words to himself after a pause, trying to recall anything of value that he could use to his advantage. “That name… A Conqueror of Asia and Europe. I’ll have to make sure to do some research about that later.”

‘ _For now… I’d better get a move on._ ’ He thought to himself as he looked at the clock within the bookstore, trying to forget the quagmire he had just been able to escape from. ‘ _Time’s ticking away, and I should probably consult the school’s library for more info on my enemy Servants, now that I know a little bit more about them…_ ’

Just as he was leaving the bookstore however, he felt as though someone from the café was watching him intently. When he turned around to see who it would be however, he noticed nobody in particular save two people, who were busy in conversation with one another.

One of the two appeared to be a young man with short black hair and circle-framed glasses blocking a view of his eyes. Wearing what appeared to be a school uniform in complete blue, he looked just like another NPC to Mihara from where he stood. Although, he knew of no other school in the area other than Tsukumihara Academy.

The second was a young woman this time. From what he could tell from this distance she sported short, dark brown hair, barely reaching past her chin. If it weren’t for the blue, form-fitting kimono she wore he would have mistaken her for a man. Atop of this she wore a crimson-red biker jacket.

Other than this however, nothing out of the ordinary: Just two NPCs minding their own business, ignorant of the Holy Grail War.

“Ugh, what am I doing?” He shook his head. “I’ve got other more important things to do.”

Without another glance he turned around and began walking up the path to the school to finish off the rest of his day’s schedule.

Completely unaware that the pair he had just observed had stopped their conversation to study him carefully as he walked.

* * *

  ** _Afternoon_ **

* * *

It didn’t take very long for him to reach the school gates from the town centre. Despite the place looking big enough to be classed as a ‘town’ from the school rooftops, it was surprisingly small. Whether it was because the SERAPH didn’t bother committing more resources or some other reason, Mihara did not know. Regardless, he was grateful the trip didn’t take him more than 20 minutes.

‘ _I’d better go to the library and see what I can dig up on my opponents first…_ ’ He thought to himself as he entered the school’s front gates.

Just as he walked across the courtyard to the entrance however, he heard a male voice call out to him. Curious, he stopped and turned to its origin, a young man who had apparently just left the Arena entrance from the -former- gym building.

“Yo man; Mihara wasn’t it?” The newcomer asked as he got close.

He wore the standard Tsukumihara School uniform, which immediately indicated to Mihara that he was likely another Master in the War. He stood at about the same height as Mihara, possessing brown eyes set within a slightly tanned face, with black hair tied into a short ponytail that descended to just below his shoulder blades.

“Erm, yes, who’re you?” Mihara answered tentatively, cautious after his earlier encounter in town.

“Heh, yeah I guessed you wouldn’t remember me.” The newcomer shrugged. “Well in any case, the name’s Shane, Shane Liao. We, well, we _were_ in the same class during the preliminaries, but I guess that was a long time ago for the both of us now huh?”

“Really?” Mihara couldn’t help but ask as he blinked his eyes, trying to see if he could remember this man from anywhere during the preliminaries.

“Well if you can’t remember me from then don’t sweat it.” He waved his hands in dismissal with a sheepish smile. “There’s a ton of really interesting opponents here for the War, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t remember me anyway.”

“Yeah, sorry about that…” Mihara muttered awkwardly.

“As I said, don’t sweat it.” Shane replied as he smiled. “Anyway how’re you holding up?”

“What do you mean?” He couldn’t help but ask instinctively.

“Well, I saw what happened yesterday at the courtyard; what with you getting paired with Shinji and Shun and all that.” Shane confessed. “And, well… I can guess that having to fight two Masters at once is probably going to be very troublesome for anyone.”

“Oh… _that_.” He commented dryly. “Yeah, I don’t really understand it myself, me being paired with two Masters and all that.”

‘ _Well I do know why, but maybe it’s better to keep that a secret for as long as possible…_ ’

“There has to be a reason though…” Shane muttered, as much to himself as for Mihara's sake. “Well either way it must be pretty hard on you.” At this point he turned his head over his shoulder.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” He said after a brief pause. “What? Isn’t it just good manners to at least be on talking terms with the other Masters?”

‘ _His Servant seems a bit irked that he took time out to talk to me._ ’ Mihara thought silently as he watched.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go down and take care of it now.” Shane sighed to himself, before turning back to Mihara. “Sorry again; my Servant wants me to grab something from town for her before we go back to the Arena.”

“Ah, that’s fine; sorry for interrupting you, Shane.” He nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“Hey, don’t worry about it; I was the one who started it anyway.” He said with a smile. “Oh, before I forget, I’d recommend you go and check out the Nurse’s Office; the NPC there seems to be handing out free healing items from today onwards.”

“Alright, thanks for the tip.” Again he nodded his head in confirmation.

“Right, well I’ll be off then; see you around Mihara.” With a quick wave he was off through the school gates.

“Mmm, well that adds to my list of things to do today.” He muttered to himself as he saw Shane leave. “I guess I can go there first and visit the library second. The nurse’s office should be on the first floor of the main school building, to the right.”

Just as he entered the school building however, he was confronted by a long queue of people, apparently jostling to get down to the school’s basement floor.

He also noticed that most to all of the crowd were male.

‘ _Basement floor…?_ ’ Mihara thought to himself as he tried to remember if the school even had one. ‘ _Come to think of it, I never even realised that there was a basement floor in the school; what could there be down there? And why can I see barely any girls in the queue?_ ’

‘ _…Well, never mind that. Not like I could get down there with this queue, and I wanted to go to the Nurse’s Office first anyway_. _Maybe it’ll thin out a bit later so I can go and have a look_.’

Scurrying past the queue he quickly made his way down the right wing of the building and stopping in front of the Nurse’s Office.

“Excuse me.” He called out as he slid the door open.

“Ah…” A familiar voice spoke, acknowledging his arrival. “Welcome, Mihara Hakuno. What can I do for you?”

“Sakura Matou.” Mihara spoke as he recognised the person sitting at the table in the centre of the room, before giving a short bow and turning around to close the door behind him. “Are you the nurse stationed at the office?”

“Oh, yes, I am.” She stuttered a bit as she stood up, the white coat floating down around her brown Tsukumihara Uniform as she did so. “As an NPC of the SERAPH I’m in charge of taking care of the Nurse’s Office, and tending to the wounds Masters may have sustained, when permitted.”

“When permitted?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, if say you were to sustain an injury from a Servant or another Master outside of the Arena and the Coliseum, like on the school grounds or in town, I am allowed to treat you.” She explained.

“Ah, I see.” Mihara nodded in understanding. “So if a Master breaks the rules and harms another Master then you are allowed to treat them.”

“Yes, that is correct.” Sakura nodded in confirmation, before pausing for a short while. “So, what can I do for you, Mihara Hakuno?”

‘ _Ah, yes, she’s still an NPC after all…_ ’ He thought wryly as she repeated her question.

“Sorry, well I heard that the Nurse’s Office was handing out free healing supplies to Masters starting today…?” He asked.

“Oh, yes, we are actually. Please wait for a moment…” Quickly she made her way around the table to the far end of the room.

The wall there was lined by windows overlooking the school courtyard, there was also another desk there with a computer, some folders, documents, and a medium-sized black box on top of it. After a few seconds Sakura had made her way to the computer and sat down in front of it, before she began operating it.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She started speaking again a few moments after working on the computer, getting up again automatically. “Please come in; I didn’t mean to leave you standing there. Please, take a seat.”

“Ah, thank you…” With her gaze on him, he moved forward awkwardly to the central table, taking a seat opposite to where Sakura had originally sat. Satisfied with this, the girl in question returned to the computer, as silence descended onto the office.

“So, um…” Mihara spoke as he attempted to strike a conversation while she worked. “Have many of the other Masters come by to visit the office yet?”

“Actually we started handing out free healing supplies from the start of this week.” Sakura spoke as the computer whirred away in front of her. “But… Even though we have, hardly anyone ever comes to visit…”

“Really?” He asked, surprised. “I would’ve thought a lot of Masters would come by for free stuff…”

“It’s not really all that unexpected.” She replied. “From what I can gather from the previous NPCs who was in charge of the Nurse’s Office, not many people come by the Nurse’s Office during the first few weeks of past Holy Grail Wars, even with free healing items.”

‘ _…That means there have been other Holy Grail Wars before this one then…_ ’ He thought as she continued speaking.

“But as an NPC I’m still required to stay here in the office.” She said matter-of-factly. “I guess that means I don’t need to worry as much as some of the other NPC’s like those monitoring the Arena for illegal hacking…”

“I guess so.” He replied. “Was it… The sisters Arina and Suzuha?”

“Yes. Have you met the two before?” Sakura asked as she continued working.

“Well I’ve only met Suzuha so far.” Mihara shrugged. “I guess both of them are quite busy now with over 400 Masters active…”

“Yes, it’s true.” She replied. “I managed to talk to Arina yesterday. She seems to have noticed a strangely high amount of anomalous code in the Arena ever since the start of this Holy Grail War.”

“Strangely high…?” He asked, confused. “What does that mean?”

“Well, I-” She began, before cutting herself off suddenly as the black box on the table began to glow green for a few moments as he observed pixel-like objects congregating together on top of it, forming a small brown bag.

“I apologise for the wait, Mihara Hakuno.” Sakura started speaking as she stood up, ignoring his question as she picked the bag up with both hands and walking to where he sat. “We need to ensure that a Master doesn’t take more than one free item a week, but here you go!”

‘ _Well I guess it’s classified information or something…_ ’ He thought to himself as he accepted it.

“It’s just an Ether Shard for now, Mihara.” She commented. “As the weeks go by we’ll start stocking some more advanced healing items for all the Masters.”

“I see, thank you for this.” Nodding his head as he accepted the item, he stood up again.

“Oh…” She squeaked as he stood. “Are you… leaving already?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of things to take care of, what with me being paired against two Masters and all…” He replied, before pausing for a moment.

“Sorry, Sakura; it must be a bit lonely here right?” He continued with a question, somewhat against his better judgement.

“No, no it’s fine.” She shook her head gently. “I’m used to it like this.”

“Is that so…?” Mihara’s gaze wandered around the empty room, the gentle whirr of the computer the only sound to envelop the room.

‘ _…I know I probably shouldn’t say this._ ’ He closed his eyes for a moment as thoughts bubbled up in his head. ‘ _But, this place is, just, so empty…_ ’

“Well, alright then.” Opening his eyes, he began speaking again. “I’ll… come by to visit again a bit later in the week, hopefully by then I won’t be as busy.”

“Really?” She asked, a little bit more enthusiastic.

“Sure.” He nodded his head in affirmation. “Well if not this week I’ll definitely come by next week.”

“That’d be nice, thank you, Mihara.” She spoke, a warm, gentle smile on her face.

“Well, I’ll be off now then Sakura.” He said, feeling slightly awkward at how much she seemed to be looking forward to the meeting. Quickly he stepped over to the doors, sliding them open and heading out.

Just as he closed the doors he took one last look into the room, before seeing Sakura still standing there, watching him closely with a very… complicated, look on her face.

Unable to stop himself, he waved one last goodbye to her. Caught off-guard, it took her a few seconds before she returned the gesture, her smile returning to her just as he slid the door closed.

A few seconds passed with him standing at the closed door, slightly confused as to the exchange he just had, before a familiar voice echoed in his mind, a surprising amount of animosity mixed with it.

“Mihara…”

“Eh?” He couldn’t help but jump a bit as a sudden shiver came up his spine.

“I’ve stood quiet for now, but what in the world are you doing, Master?!” Caster’s voice suddenly flared as her body remained invisible. “Why are you busy flirting with that silly NPC girl when you have me by your side?!? We haven’t even gone out on a date yet and yet you’re already cheating on me with someone else?!”

“What are you saying all of a sudden?!” He shouted instinctively. “For that matter; how long have you been here?! And where’s Saber?”

“I am here, Mihara.” The young swordswoman’s voice answered in confirmation. “Though I would suggest you focus your attention on calming Caster; she has been quite displeased with you.”

“Displeased?!” The foxgirl cried incredulous. “Displeased doesn’t even cover it! Master; infidelity is a no-no! I would’ve thought that normal people would know this already but it seems as though along with your memories you’ve also lost all sense of common courtesy! I swear I will make sure I drill this into your body tonight so I hope you’re prepared! You won’t be getting even a wink of sleep tonight!”

‘ _But I don’t even sleep nowadays anyway!!_ ’ His mind screamed as it tried to work a way out from this unexpected danger.

* * *

“Haah, what am I doing?” Sakura Matou asked herself softly, sighing a few moments after Mihara Hakuno had closed the door to the Nurse’s Office.

“Something’s clearly wrong with my programming, even during the preliminaries something seemed off…” She continued murmuring to herself as she tried to run an internal diagnostic, standing still for several more minutes.

“I should probably try and find a maintenance NPC to have a look at this and see what’s wrong…” She shook her head in failure as her diagnostics finished.

Just as she did however she felt a sudden jolt of electricity course up her spine. With a small yelp she collapsed onto her knees, her muscles suddenly losing all their strength.

“Wha…?” She gasped for breath, before another jolt erupted through her body, causing her to double over in pain, unable to even scream.

At that moment, an image of an elderly man’s face bubbled up within her memory, as though the chains of an unwanted memory had suddenly been broken.

Bracing herself for more shocks her body tensed up, still on her knees.

But contrary to what she expected, there were no more shocks or images that followed. It was as though _something_ had been put in place to stem the tide of images, and stop the electric jolts.

Without moving from her kneeling position she quickly began another internal diagnostic, before noticing a failed attempt to hack her program, and an extended-level security firewall put in place by the SERAPH.

“What is this?” She murmured to herself after a few minutes, as she reviewed the data. “Why me?”

At that moment she remembered the strange image she had after the second jolt. She remembered that she had seen him before during the preliminary period, the person who was designated to play the role of as her ‘Grandfather’.

Yet for some reason, somewhere within her mind, a sinister voice whispered that their relationship was more than that.

Far, far more than the roles the SERAPH had placed on them.

Yes, even though she shouldn’t know of this person outside of his status as a Master, just remembering the image brought about a strange sense of terror within her.

And yet, try as she might, she could remember nothing about this man.

Almost without her realising it her hands had already wrapped themselves around her shoulders.

She was shaking.

“Please…” She whispered, unable to stop her digital body’s convulsions as she closed her eyes tightly. “Please, someone… Mihara, please…”

“Please, come back soon.”

* * *

"Caster…” Mihara groaned as he reached the stairs, his invisible Servants following him. “Please, don’t do that again…”

“While I’m relieved that the situation didn’t escalate to _that_ level, you really need to be more careful about triggering flags like that in the future Mihara. I do worry about our future relationship together if you intend to be so chummy with every pretty woman you see.”

“But I already told you I just went there to get some free medical supplies for use in the arena.” He said exasperated. “We had some free time since she was busy getting all the paperwork, finished so we just chatted for a bit.”

“There’s the problem Master.” She said petulantly. “You’re so nice to everyone you don’t even realise it! And just one wrong move and you’ll be triggering flags with every woman in sight!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” He asked confused.

“Really though, I wish you’d put more effort into trying to trigger some flags with this foxy maiden here…” She mused aloud, ignoring his question.

Raising an eyebrow he paused for a minute, hoping to get a more meaningful response from Caster before shaking his head briefly and heading up to the library on the school’s second floor.

As he was climbing up the stairs to the second floor however, he was greeted with an unexpected conversation. While he couldn’t see who was speaking he could clearly hear their voices coming from around the corner to the right wing of the building, in front of the library.

“That’s… Shinji?” He muttered as he recognised the voices. “And…Rin Tousaka, isn’t it?”

“Indeed; it be that harpy and that man-child who we are forced to call our opponent, Mihara.” Saber’s voice confirmed his suspicions, silent up until now. As she has yet to assume a physical form she was probably looking around the corner at the two now.

“This could prove to be a good opportunity.” Saber continued as Mihara took a quick look around the corner, confirming the presence of the two Masters, Shinji facing away from him and Rin towards him. “Should we listen in to their conversation, we may be able to glean some information about our opponent’s identity.”

“It’d be a bit awkward to waltz right by into the library right now anyway.” Caster said, effectively voicing her agreement as Mihara nodded in confirmation. Taking a neutral position just before the corner he began listening in on their conversation, occasionally peaking around to see what was going on.

“Hmm, so you’ve actually managed to summon a decent Servant then I take it?” Rin asked with a hand on her hips.

“Heh, you got that right.” Shinji said, smugly. “I may have had to take shit from you in the past, but this time I’ll be the one to come out on top!” Flicking a lock of hair off from his face he continued in an overly-dramatic tone.

“With her armada to back me up, no one, not even you, can hope to win this game!”

At that moment though, it seemed as though Rin had noticed Mihara just as he peeked around the corner, as she gave a noticeable smile which even Mihara recognised at this distance.

“Oho, I guess that’s to be expected from Asia’s Premier Hacker, Shinji Matou.” She nodded her head in acknowledgement, not recognising Mihara’s presence any further. “You must be really confident about her that you’d give out information like candy.”

“Ugh…” He grunted as though he himself was physically hit, his skin taking on a noticeable shade of embarrassed red before quickly launching into a, rather unsteady, comeback.

“Err… Y-yeah! Yeah, that’s right. Any fight with her’d be completely one sided, s-so think of this as evening the scales a bit! Yeah…” His voice drew out for a few moments, before he continued a bit more vigorously.

“B-But is it really?! Who knows, I might actually be lying just to knock you off balance. W-who knows, maybe it’d be better if you forgot everything I said…”

‘ _As if anybody’d fall for that, Shinji…_ ’

“That is true…” She muttered, placing a hand to her chin and going along with his ruse. “A single word is hardly enough information to discern a Servant’s True Identity, and as you said, you could just be lying about it.”

“Y-yeah, that’s right!” He almost shouted vigorously.

“But if you aren’t lying…” A smile played across her lips for an instant before she continued speaking. “A Servant that is tied to an Armada in real life, and by proxy a Ship, would thin out the candidates quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?”

“Gah!” Apparently out of instinct Shinji quickly took a step back, before stopping himself as his red face quickly turned pale, loosing almost all of its colour.

“How would such a Servant attack, I wonder?” She continued, deliberately ignoring Shinji’s discomfort. “Would it be via long-distance bombardment or a point-blank assault? Either way, her attacks in this case are certainly physical in nature, therefore I‘ll just have to make sure to prepare a lot of physical barriers.” She paused for a short while, before giving another smile.

“And if we’re talking about Armadas…” She continued again. “I wonder if the ‘Invincible Armada’ had anything to do with your Servant. I mean, now that you’ve ‘lied’ about your Servant’s association to one, people are certainly going to connect the two together now. I wonder if your Servant would get pretty pissed at you for starting up this ‘rumour’.”

“W-well, e-e-either way I don’t think she cares about such rumours.” Shinji spluttered after several seconds, clearly out of his league. “A-And even so, knowledge like this means nothing if you can’t use it! T-there’s a good chance both of us’ll never fight in the Coliseum anyway!”

With his final pathetic comeback Shinji turned around before making a hasty retreat straight down the stairs, so much so that he even ignored Mihara’s presence around the corner.

‘ _As expected, only Rin Tousaka can crush Shinji’s pride as easy as a sandcastle would fall in the face of a tidal wave._ ’ Mihara couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry smile as he watched Shinji’s figure disappear down the stairs.

“As expected, the little idiot couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” Caster’s voice spoke with disdain. “But anyway, all the better for us in the long run!”

“It’s clear that there are very few Masters who understand the stakes of this War.” The woman in question began speaking, having walked up to the stairs herself to watch Shinji’s retreating figure. “However…”

At this she gave a sharp glare at Mihara who almost fell down the stairs in response.

“You’re free right now right, Mihara Hakuno?” She asked before pulling a fake smile.

“Um, well, er…” His mind started whirring to think of an excuse.

“Considering that you’re just loitering here eavesdropping I thought you would be.” She continued before he could mount a reply. “So, you _ARE_ free fright now, yes?”

“Ugh… Yes.” He conceded his position as he hung his head.

“Good then, I have something to discuss with you in private.” Again she gave that same smile, before continuing. “Please come to the rooftop with me.” Without wasting another moment she began climbing the stairs, not even bothering to check if he was following her.

Even so, she didn’t need to as Mihara dutifully followed her up the stairs after giving a brief sigh.

“You’re really too easy to push around, Mihara.” Caster’s voice echoed as he climbed. “I mean, if someone like this witch could get you to do things so easily for her, I really do worry about our future together you know. Especially after what happened at the Nurse’s Office earlier.”

“You’re still not over that?!” He whispered to her incredulously.

“Truly, Mihara, you know little about how a maiden’s heart works.” Caster clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. “In any case, I hope she isn’t calling you up there to grope you again. Honestly, if she tries something like that again rules or not I’m really going to give her a piece of my mind!”

“I honestly doubt she’d think of doing that again, Caster.” He sighed exasperatedly. “Although, I suspect she’s more than just a bit curious as to why I’m being paired up against two Masters.”

‘ _Just as I had suspected earlier, word’s going to get around quickly._ ’ He thought to himself.

“If that’s the case, then what do you think we should tell her?” Caster asked.

“To be honest I don’t know.” He shook his head as he spoke. “It’ll only be a matter of time before someone like her finds out about the truth, so there’s really little point in me hiding it… For all we know she already has an idea.”

“Knowing you Mihara, you’d probably just want to spit it out and get it done with.” Caster replied.

“Well I don’t exactly see any other choice left.” He continued.

“Mihara, we are here.” Saber cut in before he could say anymore, just a few steps before the door leading to the rooftop, Rin having left it open for them on her way up.

Not wanting to let the conversation be heard by others Mihara quickly closed the door after him with a _clang_.

Dutifully he turned around by the door, watching Rin look out over the town below from the railings at the edge of the school rooftops.

“So let me ask you.” She began after a moment of silence, turning around from her position. “How many Servants have you contracted with?”

‘ _Straight to the point; she already has an idea._ ’ He thought to himself as he instinctively tensed up.

“Also, don’t play dumb.” She continued. “There’s only a few reasons as to why the SERAPH would set a Master up against two other opponents. So, how many Servants are you contracted with?”

“…Two.” He sighed as he gave his answer.

“…As I thought.” Rin muttered as she placed a hand to her chin in thought, a few minutes of awkward silence descending upon the two.

“This is impossible.” She suddenly said out of the blue.

“What do you mean impossible?” He asked as his eyes widened.

“I guess you wouldn’t know, considering your amnesia.” She replied bluntly, before leaning back onto the rails. “In the SERAPH, each Master is given a unique Identification number. It is with this number that the SERAPH assigns Servants, so no one number, and by proxy Master, can have more than two Servants.”

“But then…?” He couldn’t help but point to himself in confusion.

“That’s the thing.” She muttered darkly. “You’re not supposed to have two Servants if you’re like any other Master with only one ID number. That implies your profile within the SERAPH has two ID numbers attached to it. My question now is how you managed to do it, but then knowing you, you wouldn’t be able to answer me.”

“I…” He began after her pause. “I don’t really understand the why does this seem so significant to you though. Certainly, the SERAPH is bound to make some mistakes right?”

“Are you an idiot?” She cut him off before sighing. “Do you seriously believe a _computer_ can make such a mistake like this? No, for something like this to happen, there has to have been some sort of outside influence.”

She crossed her arms before turning her head downwards, deep in thought as silence again took over the two for several more minutes.

‘ _Outside influence?_ ’ He thought to himself in silence after his brain processed what Rin had told him. ‘ _Could it be… The ‘me’ before my memory loss tried something to cause this?_ ’

“Well whatever the reason, I won’t be able to tell you why.” She began speaking again. “I’m sure you yourself have no concrete ideas either right now. Still though, this changes things…”

“Changes things?” He asked out loud.

“This sort of mixup doesn’t happen by coincidence.” Rin continued, her arms still crossed. “As I’m sure you’re thinking, the ‘you’ in the real world before hooking into the SERAPH might have had something to do with creating two ID numbers. Although, it seems to have come at a cost to your memories; a pretty bad trade if I may say so.”

“Admittedly I can’t argue with that…” Mihara muttered as Rin continued speaking.

“Regardless, to be able to hack into the SERAPH and do something like this requires an extreme amount of skill… Heck, I might actually say it’s impossible. But still, here you are with two Servants.” She sighed again before continuing.

“And, when I consider this, the more I think about it the more I feel that you’ll end up coming on top of Shinji and Shun at the end of this week.”

“Seriously?” He asked, somewhat pleased yet scared at her compliment. “I mean, I-”

“I said it already, not just anyone can hack into the SERAPH to this extent.” She cut him off. “With or without memories, this at least showed you had sufficient skill to do something like this before you came into the SERAPH. With hacking abilities like that it’d be very easy for you to clear the opposition. But the only question now is whether you can remember how to do that.”

His body froze for a long moment, before he gave a long sigh, effectively his answer for her.

“I guess that’s a no.” She answered for him.

He nodded his head grimly, confirming her suspicions as she closed her eyes for a moment.

‘ _But I do know what you’re talking about though._ ’ He thought to himself as the memory of this morning’s meeting with Shinji, and yesterday’s encounter, surfaced.

“Well it just seems that your to-do list keeps piling larger and larger.” She commented. “Don’t expect me to be able to help you though.”

“I guessed as much.” He sighed in resignation as thoughts swirled in his mind. “Having said that, is there anything else you wish of me, in payment for eavesdropping?”

“…I suppose not.” Rin Tousaka replied after a few moments of thought, crossing her arms as she said so.

“Then I’ll be off now.” Mihara said, giving a shallow bow. “Thank you for discussing this with me, at least it gives me a little hint as to how I am what I am.”

“Hmph, I wonder who wouldn’t be interested in an anomaly like you at this stage.” She replied, watching him for a few more minutes as he left.

* * *

“There’s still something really off about him.” Rin muttered to herself as she stared at the door to the rooftop.

It had been just a few minutes after the young man known as Mihara Hakuno having just left the rooftop with a final _creak_ from the door.

“Heh, you’ve said that already little Lady.” A disembodied male voice told her.

“I know, Lancer.” She said with a sigh, turning around to look out to the city. “That just goes to show how much this is bothering me, even though it shouldn’t…”

“Oho?” He asked, his voice carrying a hint of mischief. “After groping him like that before I’m not surprised you’re a bit ‘bothered’ by him.”

“Enough of that already, jeez!” She shouted in embarrassment, stamping one foot as she remembered the incident. “But seriously though, I’ve never heard of, or seen, anyone who can hack the SERAPH like that back on Earth before coming here…”

“I can say at least I’ve never seen a Master with two Servants in the SERAPH myself.” He confirmed, matching her tone. “Though I’ve only been in a couple of ‘em, I’ve never heard of such an occurrence in the Wars that I wasn’t part of either.”

“…Perhaps it’s because I wasn’t prepared for something like this to happen, that it’s sitting so badly with me.” She continued muttering to herself, a hand on her chin as she thought. “The fact that someone could do this, either himself or someone else…”

“Someone else?” He asked, not failing to catch Rin’s voice.

“Yes; someone else entirely might have done this.” She answered. “But the question then is why him in particular? Or is this just a side-effect of someone else’s hacking of the SERAPH? Whatever that kind of hacking is, something serious enough to actually meddle with a user’s Personal Data is…”

“Is implying that the problem must be a lot bigger than what we’re seeing now.” He said, finished her sentence.

“I know Lancer, I know.” She said grimly.

“Hehe, this sounds like it’ll be a very interesting Holy Grail War for sure…” Her Servant said, laughed in anticipation.

“I guess at least one of us is happy about this…” Rin Tousaka replied, sighing to herself again as she consumed herself in her own thoughts on this matter.

* * *

**_Night_ **

* * *

“Mihara, what is this?” Saber asked as she popped a slice of fish into her mouth.

After their conversation with Rin Tousaka, Master and Servants spent about another hour or so in the library, researching the information that they had learned over the course of the day. Subsequently they headed to the Arena, where fortunately for them neither of the enemy Masters showed up, leaving them to train and harvest program data freely.

Back home, the Master and his Servants were now enjoying a simple meal to conclude the day, the bright light of the kitchen clearly illuminating their evening meal.

“Steamed fish in soy sauce.” He answered as he placed his own bowl of rice in front of him, wafts of smoke gently rising from the steamer next to him. “Take the raw fish fillets in a bowl and marinate them in soy sauce for a few hours, before putting everything in a steamer; the water from the steam condenses to dilute the soy sauce. I added some garlic cloves, ginger, lemon juice and spring onions to the fish as it was marinating to give it some extra flavour.”

“It’s not bad at all, Mihara.” Caster commented as she swallowed some fish. “Well, it’s not like your curry the last two days was _bad_ in comparison; I’m still quite impressed that you know how to cook at least up to this level. Although I could probably do better if you just let me use the kitchen…”

“Well at the end it’s still quite a simple meal…” He replied, ignoring Caster’s last statement. “I just hope it suits both of your tastes for now. We…don’t really have the funds right now for larger meals and I’m not exactly conversant with many other cooking recipes yet.”

“Oh no, it’s fine it’s fine!” Caster said with a smile. “While I admit that the Castle chefs back in my time pumped out more dishes than a herd of horses can eat, I can definitely taste the love and delicate attention my Master’s put in this for me!”

He couldn’t help but give a wry smile as he remembered the little ‘incident’ at the Nurse’s Office earlier in the day, before turning to look at Saber, waiting for her opinion.

“…Hmm.” She murmured as she chewed a piece of fish slowly, as though savouring its flavour. “I must admit that I am more used to seeing large banquet tables laden with food for as far as the eye can see. But, this in itself is also a good change of pace, as well as a chance to try food from the orient. Yes, indeed for now I am satisfied with this.” She nodded her head in approval as she finished.

“That’s a relief then.” Mihara smiled contented with their response. “Although, I doubt I’ll be able to match the sheer volume by myself anytime soon…”

“Regardless of that though.” Saber continued after swallowing. “We should recount what we have learned today, Mihara.”

“Yes, of course…” He nodded in acceptance. “I guess the most important part would be info on their Servants. I’ve, managed to get some on both of them today, so who should we start with?”

“Hmm, I guess I’m more interested in that woman we saw yesterday.” Caster answered.

Saber nodded in agreement. “She was quite a competent opponent yesterday, though her Master is certainly lacking.”

“Alright then; we heard quite a bit from Shinji’s conversation with Rin today, and from that I went to the library to find out more about the ‘Invincible Armada’.” He took a few mouthfuls of food before beginning explaining what he had found today.

“During what was known as the ‘Age of Discovery’, when the American continent was first discovered, there was a mad scramble by many of the major European Powers to secure colonies there. Britain, France and Spain in particular were the biggest players at this time, and it so happened that Spain came to dominate most of the South American continent.”

“I hope you don’t intend to launch into a complete history lecture, Mihara.” Caster interrupted.

“Sorry, I’m not entirely sure how to explain it so it makes sense otherwise.” He answered sheepishly, before continuing as he saw her shrug her shoulders. “The Invincible Armada that Rin mentioned was actually Spanish in origin. At its peak during the late 16th century, the large territory they controlled meant they needed a large fleet of warships to maintain order. It is also because of their large territory that the Spanish Empire was dubbed as ‘The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets’. Literally, this means that there was always some part of their Empire that sees the sun at any point during the day.”

“Hmph, quite an impressive title for their Empire.” Saber mused. “Though I would assume the known world has expanded drastically since my time…”

“As expected of such wide-reaching control, the Spanish had to maintain a sizeable navy at all times, both to guard their colonies around the world, as well as to protect their trade convoys.” He continued. “These convoys made extensive use of ‘Treasure Ships’, massive ships that carried all sorts of spices, luxuries, raw materials and gold from the Americas to Spain. Of course with all of this valuable cargo, these Spanish Treasure Ships made juicy targets for pirates to raid, and other countries fighting against Spain.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her saying something about that yesterday.” Caster commented.

“So I see she is little more than a pirate.” Saber scoffed. “Raiding those treasure ships as she seems to boast.”

“In any case, the Spanish Empire was seeing quite severe competition from the British and their growing empire.” He continued. “The ‘Invincible Armada’ was a vast armada of ships assembled by the Spanish. The purpose of this Armada was the complete subjugation of Britain and their growing Empire. It was made up of an estimated 65,000 men crewing over 100 ships, each weighing over 1,000 tons.”

“At least their Empire’s name matches up with the manpower they can muster.” Saber nodded to herself again.

“Their planned invasion of Britain however, ended in abysmal failure with just less than half of the Armada’s ships being sunk completely, and Britain remaining as strong as ever.”

“Hmm, so the Empire’s sun began setting in a different form.” Saber commented with a smile.

“Judging from what we’ve heard, Shinji’s Servant almost certainly has a big part to play during this invasion of Britain by the Spanish Armada.” Mihara continued “But finding out who she is, amongst all the players at the time, is going to be difficult.”

“If we were to take into account how she spoke yesterday though, we could assume she was fighting against the Spanish.” Saber said. “But we should not hold ourselves to that opinion until we gain more information.”

“Yes, I have to agree.” Mihara nodded his head in acceptance.

“And then…” Saber continued as she swallowed a mouthful. “What about the other Servant?”

“Yes, I managed to overhear a conversation between Shun and his girlfriend in town.” Mihara began to explain. “He mentioned something about ‘Genghis Khan’s Four Dogs of War’, so I tried to do a little digging with those keywords.”

“And?” Caster asked. “Did you manage to find anything useful about him?”

“Some, yes.” Mihara nodded in confirmation. “Genghis Khan was a Mongol Warlord who lived during the 12th to early 13th century. At his birth, Mongolia was filled by warring clans, who failed to even agree to disagree most of the time. Genghis Khan however, changed all that, uniting the clans under one banner, and setting forth to conquer most of Asia and even parts of Europe.”

“Hmm.” Saber murmured in thought. “That would…That would be as large as the Roman Empire!”

“Yes, the Mongolian Empire’s size was considerable.” He nodded. “However, it didn’t last for nearly as long as the Roman Empire did due to the rivalry between his grandchildren about who should inherit what part of their Empire.”

“If memory serves me right, I don’t remember anything about Mongolians on Japan though.” Caster commented.

“Yes, that is true.” Mihara nodded again. “The Mongolians were never able to conquer Japan, the several invasion attempts they embarked on failed due to being unable to cross over the Sea of Japan in large enough numbers.”

“Heh, that’s not too surprising.” Caster scoffed. “Uncouth barbarians like them wouldn’t have a chance at crossing any sea in one piece.”

“Regardless,” Mihara continued with a wry smile. “Genghis Khan needed skilled Generals and Retainers to be able to conquer so much land in one generation, while at the same time keeping their holdings firmly under thumb. Of particular note, it seems there were 17 of them: The Nine Ministers, the Four Valiant Warriors, and his Four Dogs of War.”

“Ah, there we go.” Caster exclaimed.

“Indeed.” Mihara nodded. “This list included Khubilai, Jelme, Jebe, and Subutai. The question now is, which of these four are we pitted against.”

“But again like with that lady-pirate, it’s better for us not to jump to conclusions again, right Mihara?” Caster asked, echoing Saber’s earlier comments.

“Again, yes, it wouldn’t be good to jump to conclusions with this.” He nodded as he answered.

“But at least we’ve got some info on those two.” Caster said gleefully, even as Saber across the table from her sighed. “Hehe, I can’t wait to tear them all up into little pieces for insulting my dear Master so. Not to mention the fact that they even think their ramshackle partnership will work against us!”

“Well, I suppose this should be satisfactory.” She said out loud. “I applaud your efforts for today, Mihara, with this we are well on our way to finding out the True Names of our opponents.”

“You don’t seem very happy despite that though, Saber.” Caster asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“I find this situation incredibly dreary.” She said frankly. “But regardless, there is little I can do to change the situation. I just hope that they will provide an entertaining fight before I obliterate them at the end of this week.”

With this she gave a smile that matched the shining confidence in her words.

“Though with the issue about our enemy Servants taken care of, now I am interested in what that girl on the rooftop discussed with you today, Mihara.” Saber continued

“You mean what Rin Tousaka said?” The Master asked.

“I would do well to remember the name of that harpy, but yes, her.” Saber replied, nodding. “The issue of you summoning two Servants was clearly suspect from day one, but her comments only add fuel to the fire in this case.”

“Hm, hm!” Caster mumbled to herself, nodding her head with a thoughtful expression. “I didn’t expect you of all people to understand my position, but I see that you really do!”

“…What nonsensical scheme are you thinking of now, Caster?” Saber asked with an eyebrow raised as she took a drink.

“A maiden’s heart, of course!” The foxgirl declared, a hand placed on her chest. “Every maiden wishes for the man she loves to belong to her and her alone!”

“No, sorry, where did that come from?!” Mihara asked, aghast as he remembered the incident in front of the Nurse’s Office today.

“That’s why-!” Caster declared again as she hammered her fist onto the table. “When I saw you summoned as well as I, I was sooo worried about what I’d do with this potential rival cohabitating together with us lovebirds together!”

“Hmph, I see…” Saber said as she took another drink. “Evidently we are not on the same wavelength. For instead my worries are not for such frivolities, but rather about the poor skills our Master possesses!”

“Frivolities?!” Caster asked, almost shouting as though insulted.

“Yes, frivolities…” Saber replied stoically, before taking a long look into her cup for a few moments, murmuring inaudibly as she did so before speaking up. “A Master of such mediocre appearance and abilities scant deserves my attention in such a manner, though I admit his efforts up until now deserve some praise.”

“…You do know I’m right next to you, Saber?” Mihara asked with a twisted smile, unsure if he should be proud or ashamed of himself.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect such comments from you Saber.” Caster replied as her eyes lit, a strange shiver travelling down Mihara’s back as she did so. “Well, considering how much you act like a boy all the time I shouldn’t be surprised your heart has taken a complete switch.”

“Hmm...” Saber murmured, her eyes closed as she placed the cup in her hands on the table. “It appears you have a great misunderstanding of my fundamental being, Caster.”

“Huh?” Both Master and remaining Servant asked perplexed, almost in unison.

“Hmph; let me explain.” The crimson swordswoman began as she gave a smile, clearly eager to talk about herself. “I could define myself along three different lines: My physical form; my spirit; and my soul. Truly, the definition of my being varies depending on which.”

‘ _…This is going to get very confusing.’_ Mihara thought to himself, ignoring the urge to rub his temples in confusion. ‘ _Though I concede Caster’s point, Saber has always had such a masculine bearing I thought she couldn’t relate to her original gender anymore, but this-!_ ’

“Firstly; my physical appearance.” Saber continued, ignorant of the other two’s dumbstruck expression as she traced her hand down the middle of her body for emphasis. “My physical form is that of a woman. Admittedly a short woman, but height matters not in determining superiority nor strength.

“…I do not mind it, and you should not either. Therefore, refrain from making comments about my height. That is true for you in particular, Caster.”

While the last half of her statement felt tagged on in a rush, she made a point to look at the foxgirl across the table from her, as though silencing her from making any untoward comments.

‘ _…Your reaction to Caster’s prodding the past few days can barely back up that statement, Saber…_ ’ Mihara thought to himself deadpan as he watched. ' _...And yes, it is_ quite obvious your physical form is that of a woman...'

“Next, my spirit.” Saber said before pausing for a moment, nodding to herself just before she began speaking. “Umu, it is about half and half, I suppose.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?” Caster asked, dumbstruck.

“I do not allow gender to sway my preferences, I believe my core is a maiden, as above all else I adore beauty.” Saber continued, ignoring Caster’s interruption.

‘ _Hmm, I find her words and her attitude to date quite incongruous…_ ’ Mihara thought with a furrowed brow. ‘ _Her attitude and way of fighting implies she would value ‘Valor’ above all else. Still, having said that… I guess knowing that gentleness resides in her…_ somewhere _, makes me feel a bit of relief… Maybe?_ ’

“And finally is the orientation of my soul, an entity different from the body or spirit.” She put a hand to her chin as she thought with closed eyes, before a satisfied smile crossed her face as she nodded to herself. “Indeed; I believe it is admirable that I could go either way, though I am firmly rooted in the middle.”

“Wait, what?!” Caster asked in confusion, voicing their Master’s own unspoken thoughts as the two stared at the swordswoman baffled.

“Umu: Beautiful young boys are good. Beautiful young girls are better. But above all, my singular preference is beauty!” Saber continued with a face of pure euphoria, her hands animated as she unreservedly stated her preferences.

‘ _…This is getting too rich for my blood already-!_ ’ Mihara almost groaned, though he couldn’t resist the temptation to drive his face into the palms of his hands in exasperation.

“You say that Saber, yet you aren’t interested at all in our Master as a ‘maiden’?” Caster asked, sceptically yet somewhat eagerly.

“Did I not say so earlier?” Saber replied. “Our Master is mediocre in both skill and appearance, that alone is scant enough to warrant my attention.”

“Even though you said it earlier it still hurts whenever you say that…” Mihara answered. “Not to mention impolite when the person in question is right next to you!”

“Heh heh…” Caster chuckled with a wide grin, ignoring her Master’s concerns. “In that case all my worries really were for naught!” Twisting her body around she leaned forward towards their Master, a slice of fish already in her chopsticks. Mihara’s body tensed up almost automatically, even leaning backwards and away from the face of Caster’s seductive smile.

“Alright then, Master; since our little Princess over there has said clearly she wouldn’t be butting into our little romance I can afford to go all out!” She proclaimed eagerly.

“Did I not just tell you not to make that reference, you cheap, dirty fox!” Saber shouted, almost smashing her fist on the table.

“Now now, let’s just enjoy the moment with just the two of us Master!” Caster said over Saber’s voice as she proffered the chopstick closer to Mihara’s mouth. “Just ignore the little girl over there and say aaah…!”

"Aah!" Saber shouted again in anger as she stood up. "Again with that; how many times must I tell you to stop it before you actually will?!"

‘ _Damnit, even if I can survive my enemy’s onslaught, how am I supposed to survive these two Servants like this?!_ ’ Mihara thought to himself, too confused to stop the situation around him from escalating.


End file.
